THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY’S NAZI PAST

MAGAZINE

BRITAIN’S BESTSELLING HISTORY MAGAZINE Explore

July 2018 • www.historyextra.com Robin
Ho
Hood’s

THE FIRST fo
orest

VIKING
WARRIORS
The birth
How Ragnar Lothbrok’s legend David
pains of inspired the great Norse invaders Olusoga
the NHS on the
myths of
“War is indrush
deeply
woven into
human
history”
Margaret
MacMillan

P LU S
o w d e r q u e e n
The agrouyalnhapnd behind the Catholic plot of 1605?
Was there
 Arthur
strikes back Severe stroke survivor makes model recovery
When stroke attacked Arthur speechless, and unable to grip a
Pickering, aged just 58, he tennis ball, to building a devilishly
thought he would spend the detailed 4’ 6” monster model of
rest of his life in a care home. the world’s biggest ferry.
And no wonder. Then he sailed away with first
prize at the Blackpool Model
Stroke is the UK’s leading cause
Boat Show.
of severe adult disability, as well
as our third biggest killer. Helping people like Arthur is the
work of the Stroke Association -
But then, Arthur struck back.
and the very best way you
With the help and care of the can help us strike back against
Stroke Association, he went stroke is to leave us a gift
from being semi-paralysed, in your Will.

To find out how you can help us strike back against stroke by leaving us a gift in your Will, please
call 020 7566 1505 email legacy@stroke.org.uk or visit stroke.org.uk/legacy

Registered office: Stroke Association House, 240 City Road, London EC1V 2PR. Registered as a Charity in England and Wales (No 211015) and in Scotland (SC037789). Also registered in Northern Ireland (XT33805), Isle of Man (No 945)
and Jersey (NPO 369). Stroke Association is a Company Limited by Guarantee in England and Wales (No 61274)
 JULY 2018

WELCOME
Barely a fortnight apart in the summer of 1948, two events historyextra.com
occurred that would have a profound efect on modern The website of BBC History Magazine
Britain. On 22 June, the MV Empire Windrush arrived at
History Extra podcast
Tilbury docks, carrying hundreds of people from the Caribbean and Download episodes for free from
symbolising the birth of a multiracial nation. Then, on 5 July, the NHS iTunes and other providers, or via
was created, transforming the provision of healthcare for people of all our website: historyextra.com/
podcasts
classes across the country.
Over subsequent decades these two moments have become
Our digital editions
heavily mythologised. Now, on their 70th anniversary, we are revisit- BBC History Magazine is available for
ing the events of 1948 to understand how they were viewed at the the Kindle, Kindle Fire, iPad/iPhone,
time. Turn to page 20 for David Olusoga’s fresh take on the Windrush Google Play and Zinio. Find us in your
app store or visit the website:
story, and read Mathew Thomson’s diagnosis of the birth pains of
historyextra.com/subscribe
the National Health Service on page 37. Look out, too, for a major
BBC season of TV and radio programmes produced to mark the Facebook and Twitter
NHS anniversar We’ve got more details on page 75. twitter.com/historyextra
Meanwhile, this month’s cover feature takes us much further back
COVER: A ‘PICTURE STONE’ DEPICTING A VIKING SHIP FROM 8TH OR 9TH CENTURY – GETTY IMAGES. UNLOADING HORSES FROM THE NORMAN SHIPS, BAYEUX

facebook.com/historyextra
in time, to the ninth century and the adventures of Viking warrior
Ragnar Lothbrok. One of the great igures of Norse legend and World Histories
a hero of the recent Vikings TV drama Lothbrok ma ay have You can now subscribe to
TAPESTRY – BRIDGEMAN. PORTRAIT OF ANNE OF DENMARK 1549 – BRIDGEMAN. BACKGROUND IMAGERY – DREAMSTIME. THIS PAGE: FRAN MONKS

the new bimonthly global

been a mythical igure but the stories surrounding him history magazine, produced
ofer a fascinating window into the real events and by the BBC History Magazine
personalities of the time. And, as Eleanor Parker ex- team. Order at
plains in her piece beginning on page 28, the Lothbrrok buysubscriptions.com/
WHI17PA or call us on TRY 3
legend was instrumental in creating our modern ISSUES
03330 160708** FOR £10 +
understanding of the fearsome Viking warrior. quoting WHI17PA

Rob Attar
Nazi Germany
Editor Read about the rise and fall
of the Third Reich in our
forthcoming Collector’s
Edition, written by top
THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS historians. Buy it for £9.99
– subscribers get free UK
P+P*. Order at buysub-
scriptions.com/nazis
or call us on
03330 162138**

CONTACT US
PHONE Subscriptions & back issues
Shirley Ann Brown Keith Thomas Eleanor Parker 03330 162115
Historical monuments and In the early modern era, Medieval writers were just Editorial 0117 314 7377
cultural icons are oten ideas about civility were as interested as we are today EMAIL Subscriptions & back issues
appropriated for nationalis central to English people’s in tales of fearsome Viking bbchistory@buysubscriptions.com
tic purposes long ater their lives. Books about manners warriors. The stories about Editorial historymagazine@historyextra.com
creation – witness the Nazis’ were very popular, and Ragnar Lothbrok are a great POST Subscriptions & back issues
interest in the Bayeux schools gave an enormous example of how Viking BBC History Magazine, PO Box 3320,
Tapestry, which involved amount of attention to history could be trans 3 Queensbridge, Northampton, NN4 7BF
the use of archaeology in teaching polite behaviour. formed into legend. Basic annual subscription rates:
the service of ideology. 쎲 Keith delves into English 쎲 Eleanor reveals how UK: £40, Eire/Europe: £67, ROW: £69
쎲 Shirley Ann explores Nazi ideas of what it meant to be a mythical figure became Editorial BBC History Magazine, Immediate
efforts to appropriate and civilised on page 63 entwined with history Media Company Bristol Limited, Tower House,
research the historic on page 28 Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN
embroidery on page 46
In the US/Canada you can contact us at:
PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037
BHIcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com,
+
3 issues for £10 only available to UK Direct Debit orders. * Subscribers to BBC History Magazinee receive FREE UK P&P on this collector’s edition. britsubs.com/history, Toll-free
Prices including postage are: £11.49 for all other UK residents, £12.99 for Europe and £13.49 for Rest of World. All orders subject to availability.
Please allow up to 21 days for delivery ** Calls from landlines will cost up to 9p per minute. Call charges from mobile phones will cost between 800-342-3592
3p and 55p per minute but are included in free call packages. Lines are open 8am–6pm weekdays and 9am–1pm Saturday for orders only 3
 JULY 2018
CONTENTS
Features
Is the age of the supermarket coming
to an end? We investigate on page 14
20 The myths of Windrush
David Olusoga on why one ship’s voyage
70 years ago has been so thoroughly
woven into Britain’s national story
25 Humanity at war
Margaret MacMillan tells Ellie Cawthorne
why conlict has played such an integral
role in human history
28 The immortal Viking
Eleanor Parker reveals how the legendary
igure of Ragnar Lothbrok helped forge the
ideal of the archetypal Viking warrior
37 Birth pains of the NHS
The NHS’s inception in 1948 was plagued
by political inighting and chronic
shortages, says Mathew Thomson
46 The Nazi tapestry?
Shirley Ann Brown chronicles German
attempts to claim the Bayeux Tapestry
as an icon of Aryan history
51 First World War memoirs
Mark Bostridge argues that we shouldn’t
believe everything we read in autobio-
graphical accounts of the Great War
58 The gunpowder queen
Tracy Borman investigates claims that
Anne of Denmark was implicated in
a plot to kill her husband, James VI & I
4 BBC History Magazine
Every month
6 ANNIVERSARIES
11 HISTORY NOW
11 The latest history news
14 Backgrounder: supermarkets
16 Past notes: the football World Cup
17 MICHAEL WOOD’S VIEW 20
18 LETTERS
The feelgood symbolism
that obscures the truth
44 OUR FIRST WORLD WAR
about the Windrush
63 BOOKS
The latest releases reviewed, plus
Keith Thomas discusses his book
on Britons’ quest for civility
75 TV & RADIO
The pick of new history programmes
80 OUT & ABOUT
80 History Explorer: Britain’s forests
85 Five things to do in July
86 My favourite place: Bern
93 MISCELLANY
93 Q&A and quiz 25
94 Samantha’s recipe corner How the compulsion
95 Prize crossword
to go to war has driven
98 MY HISTORY HERO human progress
Esther Rantzen chooses
Angela Burdett-Coutts
EVENTS
78 Buy tickets for our
History Weekends
TOPFOTO/GEORGIE GOZEM/ALAMY/BRIDGEMAN
34 SUBSCRIBE
Save 40%*
and get exclusive access to our online
library when you subscribe ttoday
37
*Available to UK Direct Debit orders only.
USPS Identification Statement BBC HISTORY (ISSN 1469-8552) The troubled irst
(USPS 024-177) July 2018 is published 13 times a year under licence from
BBC Worldwide by Immediate Media Company Bristol Ltd, Tower House, Fairfax Street,
Bristol BS1 3BN, UK. Distributed in the US by Circulation Specialists, Inc., 2 Corporate
years of the National
Drive, Suite 945, Shelton CT 06484-6238. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT
and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBC HISTORY
MAGAZINE, PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037-0495.
Health Service
 51
How historically accurate
are Great War memoirs?

46
The Nazi obsession with
the Bayeux Tapestry

58
Was James VI & I’s Catholic
wife a shadowy sponsor of
the gunpowder plot?

28
THE WILD
ADVENTURES
OF THE
ULTIMATE
VIKING
WARRIOR,
RAGNAR
LOTHBROK

BBC History Magazine 5

 Dominic Sandbrook highlights events that took place in July in history

ANNIVERSARIES
14 July 1791 17 July 1955

Anti-radical riots Disneyland

rock Birmingham
A reactionary mob vents its anger at
the home of a natural philosopher
O n 11 July 1791, an advert appeared
in a Birmingham newspaper. The
second anniversary of the storming of
the Bastille was fast approaching and
local radicals were keen to celebrate. So
in three days’ time there would be a
public banquet “to commemorate the
auspicious day which witnessed the
emancipation of 26 millions of people
from the yoke of despotism, and restored
the blessings of equal government to
a truly great and enlightened nation”.
But when, on the afternoon of 14 July,
local dissenters began arriving at the
Royal Hotel for the dinner, they found
an angry crowd waiting for them. Fears
of unrest were running high, and among
Birmingham’s artisan classes there were
plenty of people who viewed support
for the French Revolution as danger-
ously seditious.
By the evening, the atmosphere had
taken a turn for the worse and the guests
made their getaway. Protesters attacked
the hotel and then, their passions raised,
moved on to burn local nonconformist
meeting houses. The evening’s entertain-
ment ended with an attack on the home
of the natural philosopher, chemist and
free-thinker, Joseph Priestley.
Although Priestley and his wife
managed to get away, they “distinctly
heard all that passed at the house, every
shout of the mob, and almost every
stroke of the instruments they had
provided for breaking the doors and the
furniture”. Priestley’s library was
destroyed, his manuscripts were burned
and even his scientific equipment fell
victim to the mob. What, he wrote
afterwards, were “the horrors of the late
demolished Bastille, compared to this?”
opens to
the world
Chaotic scenes mar the
theme park’s first day
O 17 July 1955 in Anaheim, Califor-
nia, Walt Disney welcomed
Americans into his very own Garden of
Eden. “To all who come to this happy
place, welcome,” he proclaimed.
“Disneyland is your land. Here age
relives fond memories of the past, and
here youth may savour the challenge and
promise of the future. Disneyland is
dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and
the hard facts that have created America,
with the hope that it will be a source of
joy and inspiration to all the world.”
Disney had been planning a huge
Mickey Mouse Park, as it was originally
called, since at least 1948. The park cost
in the region of $17 million, and public
interest was enormous. Although Disney
issued just 11,000 tickets on the first day,
it’s been estimated that the crowds
numbered about 28,000, thousands
having bought fake tickets or simply
climbed over the fences into the park.
Despite Disney’s rhetoric, that first day
was a disaster. California was in the grip
of a heatwave, and the temperature hit
38°C (101°F). In the sweltering heat, the
surrounding roads were jammed with
traffic, and women’s high heels sank into
the melting asphalt. Three areas were
closed after a gas leak, and some of the
rides broke down. Many refreshment
stands ran out of food and drink, while
a plumbers’ strike meant that there was
no water in the drinking fountains. Even
the live TV coverage, co-presented by the
actor (and future president) Ronald
Reagan, was a shambles.
To Disney’s executives, the opening
PUBLIC DOMAIN

became known as ‘Black Sunday’. But

Disneyland never looked back. Over six
Johann Eckstein’s painting of rioters ransacking Joseph Priestley’s house in 1791. decades on, it has welcomed more than
The polymath escaped, but his library and scientific instruments were destroyed 650 million visitors.

6 BBC History Magazine

 Dominic Sandbrook is a historian and
presenter. His Radio 4 show
on The Real Summer of Love
is available at Archive on 4
GETTY IMAGES

Disneyland, photographed in 1955. The grand opening, intended as a celebratory television showcase, was such a disaster that Walt Disney
invited attendees back for a private ‘second day’ to experience his new theme park in better circumstances

BBC History Magazine 7

Anniversaries
9 July 1877 10 July 138 30 July 1756
The world’s first tennis After a 21 year reign, the In St Petersburg, the architect
tournament opens at Roman emperor Hadrian Bartolomeo Rastrelli unveils
the All England Club, dies of a heart attack at the magnificent Catherine
Wimbledon. The title was his villa in Baiae, in the Palace to a delighted
won by Spencer Gore. Gulf of Naples. Catherine the Great.

ILLUSTRATION BY LUKE WALLER

After a disastrous rebellion attempt and a daring escape, the Duke of Monmouth is discovered hidden among
bushes in Dorset farmland, as shown in our illustration. His efforts to seize the throne cost him his head

8 July 1685 a local woman called Amy Farrant, who

told them she had seen two men leaping
The Duke of Monmouth is over a hedge into “fields, some over-
grown with fern and brakes, and others
found cowering in a ditch sown with rye, peas, and oats”. For the
rest of the day, the soldiers scoured the
fields, shouting that they would set them
The eldest illegitimate son of Charles II tries to take on fire if Monmouth did not see reason
the throne, but is undone by bad planning and come out.
It was not until 7am on 8 July, after
endless hours of searching, that a soldier

T he last days of James, Duke of

Monmouth, were far from glorious.
Having landed at Lyme Regis to try to
seize the throne from his uncle, James II
and VII, Monmouth failed to secure
Monmouth’s men were slaughtered,
though the duke escaped, disguised as
a peasant. The chase was on.
By the morning of 7 July, Monmouth’s
pursuers were almost upon him. After
spotted someone skulking miserably in
a ditch, hiding beneath brambles and
ferns. It was Monmouth, a bedraggled,
starving figure, who had eaten nothing
but a handful of raw peas since the battle.
GETTY IMAGES

serious support for his rebellion. On the leaving Sedgemoor, he had hidden out in “Shoot him! Shoot him!” some of the
night of 6 July he launched a surprise an area of Dorset farmland known as the men shouted. Instead, he was taken to
attack on the royal army at Sedgemoor in Island. According to a contemporary London, where it took the executioner at
Somerset, but the attempt was a debacle. report, the militia were accosted by least five blows to sever his head.

8 BBC History Magazine

 7 July 1456

Joan of Arc is
posthumously
acquitted of
her crimes
The hero of Orléans
is rehabilitated

A quarter of a century after she had

been burned at the stake for heresy,
Joan of Arc was back in court. It was the
summer of 1456, and Pope Callixtus III
had authorised a retrial to investigate
whether the saviour of Orléans had
been unjustly convicted. This was not
much good for Joan, of course, since she
had long been reduced to ashes, but it
went down well with her supporters.
On 7 July, the various judges, clerks
and priests filed into the Great Hall of
the Archbishop’s Palace in Rouen,
where Joan’s aged mother and brothers
were waiting to hear the verdict.
The court had decided, said the
archbishop of Reims, that the original
“trial and sentence, being filled with
fraud, false charges, injustice,
contradiction, and manifest errors
concerning both fact and law” should
Joan of Arc is burned at the stake, in a painting from 1861. Her fiery execution followed
a politically motivated trial for heresy, the verdict of which proved far from final
be considered “null, without effect, void, where Joan had famously lifted an
and of no consequence”. It was clear, he English siege, to mark the good news at a
said, that “Joan did not contract any great feast.
taint of infamy and that she shall be and In the years since Joan’s execution the
is washed clean of such.” townsfolk had celebrated her life anyway,
When the archbishop had finished, a even mounting a religious play at which
copy of the original charges and pilgrims could buy indulgences for sin.
proceedings from 1431 was ritually torn But it was nice for them to know that the
up. Afterwards, the French inquisitor- church was on their side. Joan’s status as
general, Jean Bréhal, rode to Orléans, a national heroine was secure.

COMMENT / Helen Castor

“Joan’s king had won, and it was necessary to declare that she was not a heretic after all”
Both the purpose and content of
Joan of Arc’s retrial give it lasting
historical significance. What Joan believed
to be her mission from God was, in fact,
a partisan campaign within a brutal civil
war, in which the opposing French faction
– the Burgundians, enemies of Joan’s
Armagnacs – had allied themselves with
the English. Although it was the English
who executed Joan in 1431, they did so
on the judgement of an ecclesiastical
court composed almost entirely of
French clerics.
By 1456, the war was over – and Joan’s
TOPFOTO
to declare that the woman who had led
him to his coronation back in 1429 was
not, after all, a heretic. Not only that, but
the divisions of the civil war had to be
papered over. History therefore had to
be rewritten to pin Joan’s death wholly
on the English – and the retrial was highly
successful in doing so.
If the retrial made it possible for Joan of
Arc to become a national heroine, it also
gave us many of the ingredients of her
now-familiar story. The investigators
recorded admiring testimony from people
who had known her: family, friends,
former judges (who had miraculously
changed their minds about her guilt).
Without this evidence, Joan might never
have become an icon – nor, almost
500 years after her death, a saint.
Helen Castor is a
historian and broadcaster.
She is the author of a
number of books including
Joan of Arc: A History
(Faber & Faber, 2014)

and Elizabeth I: A Study

king had won. It was necessary, therefore, comrades-in-arms, even some of her in Insecurity (2018)

BBC History Magazine

9
A D V E R T I S E M E N T F E AT U R E

Plant
one for
the team
Join the Woodland
Trust in remembering
the footballers who England and Manchester City's John Stones

fought for Britain in Heroes on

the First World War and off the pitch Women on the ball
Football has a strong connection to the First World On the front, football was a The women left at home also
War. Most people have heard of the famous Christmas welcome distraction from the had a big impact on football
Truce, but there’s actually a lot more to the story horrors of war and a comforting during the First World War.
than just that brief moment of peace. Some of the reminder of happier times, and Although women’s football had
unlikely heroes of this terrible conflict were the the sport produced its fair share been played before the war, it
footballers of the time, who bravely signed up to fight of heroes. Bradford Park Avenue had not been well received – but
with all the other volunteers. Every team across the player Donald Bell was awarded as the fighting progressed, it
country was affected and many players joined what the Victoria Cross, while the first became increasingly popular
later became known as ‘the Footballers’ Battalion’. black British outfield footballer in and competitive. On Boxing
Professional football continued after Britain England’s top division, Tottenham Day in 1920, more than 50,000
declared war on 4 August 1914, and the weekly and Northampton’s Walter Tull, people went to Goodison Park
matches helped to boost morale on the home front. also became the British Army’s in Liverpool to watch a women’s
When it became clear that the fighting wasn’t first black combat officer. game, with thousands more locked
going to end anytime soon, however, the nation’s Almost every team in today’s out of the stadium. Despite the
footballers were encouraged to join the war effort. Premier League sent players wartime success of women’s
Army recruitment speeches took place at half-time to war between 1914 and 1918, football, a ban was imposed on
and new recruits, including both players and fans, and of course some sadly the sport on 5 December 1921,
were enlisted from the ranks of Association Football. never returned to the pitch. and this wasn’t lifted until 1971.

The Woodland Trust is passionate about making sure the bravery of the footballers,
fans and officials who fought and died 100 years ago, as well as the women who kept
the game alive during the dark days of war, is never forgotten. To commemorate them,
the charity is creating a national memorial at its First World War Centenary Wood by
planting groves of trees in honour of all those associated with football during the conflict.

Text WOODS ENG to 70025 to donate £5

The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales no.294344 and in Scotland no.SC038885
 The latest news, plus Backgrounder 14 Past notes 16

HISTORY NOW
Have a story? Please email Charlotte Hodgman at charlotte.hodgman@immediate.co.uk

EYE OPENER

A city under fire

A pall of smoke rises from a V-1
flying bomb explosion in the Drury
Lane area of central London on
30 June 1944. This image and other
rarely seen photographs have
recently been published in a new
book from Imperial War Museums
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUMS

(IWM). London at War 1939–1945:

A Nation’s Capital Survives draws
on original material from IWM’s
archive to tell the story of London
during the Second World War.

BBC History Magazine 11

History now / News

This distance stone,

from the western end of
the Antonine Wall, was
once painted with red,
white and yellow paint

ROMAN FRONTIER
boundaries of the empire, and their social

“Roman cavalrymen are depicted structure differed from that which Rome
would traditionally have encountered. The

hunting down bound and captive
indigenous warriors”
Evidence of painted warnings has been detected on
carved stones that once formed part of the Antonine
Wall, a fortified barrier that separated Roman Britain from
the tribes of Scotland. Louisa Campbell (left), who made
the discovery, explains the significance of the find
What have you learned from your in c142 AD. This lettering was depicted in
analysis of the Roman stones? red to ensure it stood out.
Using non-destructive techniques I analysed Many of the stones contain relief sculp-
the surface of these exquisitely crafted tures of various scenes, particularly battle
sculptures (called distance stones), and scenes in which Roman cavalrymen are
detected the elements and mineral com- running down bound and captive indigenous
pounds present in small traces of original warriors. Different colours of red were used
pigments applied by Roman artisans during to depict the cloaks of the Roman soldiers
the second century AD. This allowed me to and also to show blood on the captive
reconstruct the authentic colours used and warriors – for example, on a decapitated
very act of constructing the Antonine Wall,
a massive mural barrier that cut through
ancestral and cultural landscapes, would
have caused serious cultural upheaval and
most likely antagonised the local population.
Distance stones served several purposes.
They allowed the legions who were con-
structing the wall to demonstrate their
allegiance to the emperor by dedicating the
stones to him, and they also tell us how
much of the wall each legion built. The
stones were most likely placed in highly
visible places so that Roman military
personnel and Roman visitors were remind-
ed of the empire’s military might and control
of the region.
Most importantly, they served as a very
visible and effective means of discouraging
insurgence and challenges to Rome’s power.
The Antonine Wall was the most heavily
garrisoned frontier in the empire – and there
must have been a good reason for this.
HUNTERIAN MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

to re-imagine how these sculptures would
have looked in vibrant and life-like colours.
What messages were the stones
designed to convey?
They would have had an incredibly powerful
impact on the viewers – both Roman and
non-Roman alike. The stones feature
inscriptions in abbreviated Latin, and were
dedicated by the legions who constructed
the Antonine Wall to Emperor Antoninus
Pius, who commissioned its construction
neck and head. More than one of the stones
depicts an eagle, a symbol of the Roman
legions. My research has confirmed red paint
on an eagle’s beak, symbolising Rome
feasting on the flesh of her enemies. Other
scenes depict religious ceremonies, with
legionaries dedicating offerings to the gods.
What were the purposes of
these stones?
People living north of the wall were not
under Roman control. They were outside the
What does this discovery tell us about
life in Roman Britain?
The colours provide a very interesting
insight into life on the edge of empire. The
iconography isn’t all blood and gore: some
of the scenes depicted encompass religious
life and deities. The iconography of the
stones is incredibly powerful and tells
a story in its own right.
Dr Louisa Campbell is HES postdoctoral fellow
in archaeology at the University of Glasgow

12 BBC History Magazine


Meeting the past: a young festival-goer
enjoys last year’s event at Wimpole Estate
Wimpole History
Festival to return
for its second year
On the weekend of 22–24 June,
thousands of history lovers will flock
to Cambridgeshire for the second
Wimpole History Festival – the product of
a unique partnership between Cambridge
Literary Festival and the National Trust.
BBC History Magazine is one of the
event sponsors.
Set in the beautiful grounds of the
Wimpole Estate, home to Cam-
bridgeshire’s largest country house, the
festival will welcome a host of expert
historians and writers who will be talking
on topics ranging from the Vikings to the
First World War. Speakers include
Mary Beard, Charles Spencer, Dan Jones,
David Olusoga, Alice Roberts, Gordon
GETTY IMAGES/PURDUE NEWS SERVICE/PUBLIC DOMAIN
Corera and BBC Radio 4’s Jenni Murray,
plus many more.
As well as talks and debates, visitors
can enjoy falconry displays, history
demonstrations and workshops including
some with a Roman kitchen and a Tudor
armourer, plus First and Second World
War re-enactments. There’s also an
opportunity to learn the art of scything
and the chance to see two Battle of
Britain memorial flypasts.
For a full programme and to buy tickets
for talks, visit wimpolehistoryfestival.com.
You can also book tickets over the phone
by calling 01223 357851.
BBC History Magazine
HISTORY NEWS ROUND-UP
From skeletons to the origins of art, a selection
of stories that have hit the history headlines
Child skeleton found
in Pompeii
The skeleton of a child who died during
the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79
has been found in the remains of the
ancient city of Pompeii – the first child
a
ske
eleton to be found there in 50 years.
The child, believed to have been about
Th
seven or eight years old, had taken
refuge in the city baths and was
probably suffocated by the clouds of
ash that covered the city. The find was
made using scanning instruments in a
The skeleton of a young child unearthed
previously unexcavated part of the city.
from the ash-buried ruins of Pompeii
Early cave art credited
to prehistoric autism
Archaeologists and autism experts have
proposed that much of the world’s earli-
est art may have been created by people
on the autistic spectrum. The study
suggests that the harsh conditions of th
the
Ice Age favoured the natural selection off
genes conferring an ability to focus on
tasks for long periods, and to develop
skills in analysing patterns of movement
and geography – skills required for pro-
ducing such paintings, and often found
Early cave art from 32,000–30,000 BC
in people on the autistic spectrum.
in the Chauvet cave in southern France
Ancient horse received
high-ranking burial
A chariot-pulling horse from c949 BC
received an ornate burial usually
reserved for high-status humans,
according to a study published in
a
Anntiquity Journal. The horse’s remains,
buried over 2.5 metres underground in
b
a tomb in Tombos, in what is now
Sudan, still bore patches of chestnut fur
with white markings.
arki A piece of iron
(one of the ol
oldest found in Africa) and a
The ornate burial of the so-called carved scarab
sca beetle found alongside
Tombos horse suggests high status the horse
ors also indicate its high status.
Forgotten suffragette
gets musical tribute
The life of a Welsh suffragette who
went to prison in 1913 for blowing up a
Newport postbox with a homemade ma
device is to be made into a musical
s thatt
will be performed by the Welsh Nation nal
Opera. Margaret Haig Thomas (Lady
Rhondda) played a key role
in the campaign to allow women the
right to sit in the House of Lords. The
musical will open in Newport this
summer before touring the UK. Welsh suffragette Lady Rhondda, whose
life story is to be dramatised in a musical
13
History now / Backgrounder
The historians’ view…
Is the age of
supermarket
supremacy coming
to an end?
As a proposed merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda is announced,
and with the retail landscape being reshaped by no-frills
retailers and online shopping, two historians consider threats
to the dominance of Britain’s biggest chain stories
Compiled by Chris Bowlby, a BBC journalist specialising in history
In the USA, there
is a website –
deadmalls.com – that
afectionately details
shopping malls that
have closed, gone bust,
been left derelict
PROFESSOR LAWRENCE BLACK
T he latest talk of mergers, takeovers and
closures in the supermarket world
could leave some UK towns with a single
supermarket retailer. This reflects not only
intensified competition but also a challenge
to the supermarket model of large-scale
retail. That challenge has come variously
from bulk discounters offering a no-frills
experience and from online ordering and
delivery, making the large-store model look
outmoded. In the US, there is a website
– deadmalls.com – that affectionately details
shopping malls that have closed, gone bust,
been left derelict.
But this may be more about change than
terminal decline. Successful supermarket
companies have tended to be quite agile,
often driving change. Tesco evolved by
14
taking over regional retailers – for example,
more than 200 branches of Irwin’s on
Merseyside in 1960. Those stores that didn’t
adapt – among them, familiar high-street
names such as Home & Colonial, Lipton’s
and Maypole Dairies – vanished.
Supermarkets really took off in the UK in
the late 1950s. Their rise was facilitated by
the greater purchasing power of such stores,
by Britons’ love affair with the car, and by
new technologies such as self-service and
plastic wrapping. The lifting of building
restrictions, the ending of pricing controls
and, later, deregulation in the 1980s also
contributed to the emergence of the
supermarket as a dominant force.
At the time, many people regarded
supermarkets and self-service as modern,
American developments – and they certainly
contrasted favourably with the austerity of
shopping in the communist bloc. In reality,
though, they were attempts to save money
through bulk-buying, cutting labour costs
and transferring the labour of counter
service to customers. This proved to be
a spectacularly successful strategy. Major
chain stores acquired so much financial
power that they were able to colonise other
retail areas – pharmacy, dry-cleaning,
electrical goods – and to buy significant
out-of-town property.
And they have continued to evolve. From
extended opening hours and an increasingly
wide choice of in-store services to the
proliferation of retail outlets, the past few
decades have seen constant change. But not
all recent developments have been ground-
breaking. Home deliveries were routine until
the rise of the car in the mid-20th century.
Sainsbury’s ceased its service (which was
originally horse-drawn) as late as 1955.
So what has been the secret of supermar-
kets’ success? For me, it has been less about
pleasure than convenience – more about
needs than wants. Supermarkets offer range
and choice in a single location, combined
with good value and high quality. Notably,
too, hygiene scored particularly highly in
early UK shopper surveys.
But personal or expert service was rarer in
supermarkets, and customer loyalty was
harder to maintain. The ‘divi’ (dividend)
gave the Co-ops an economic advantage and
bond with working-class customers. In the
1960s, Tesco used popular stamp schemes
such as Green Shield. More recently, loyalty
cards also enabled the mining of big data for
individual shoppers. Knowing customers –
and ensuring their loyalty – will remain as
important as ever as the next phase of
competition and change emerges.
Lawrence Black is professor
of modern British history at the
University of York. He is writing
a book on shopping in the UK
and US since 1899, called
Are You Being Served?
BBC History Magazine

There have always
been small forces
of opposition to the
massive power of
supermarkets. Today
those forces have
become stronger and
more vocal
PROFESSOR AMY BENTLEY
T here’s little doubt that large grocery
stores shaped the nature of shopping.
Supermarkets saw themselves as part of a
postwar technological and scientific
revolution: a more efficient, streamlined and
rational way to buy. Convenience was the
watchword. After the deprivation and
upheaval of the Great Depression and
Second World War, consumers wanted to
spend some of their newly earned wages on
TOPFOTO/GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY
the home and family, and enjoyed exploring
this shiny new consumer landscape.
How did supermarkets change shopping
itself? First, they provided convenience and
efficiency: instead of having to visit multiple
stores, consumers could do most of their
shopping in one place. They could buy larger
quantities (stored in new gas or electric-
BBC History Magazine
Shoppers in the UK
browse supermarket
aisles in the 1950s –
a novel, exciting and
convenient retail
landscape after
the dour years of
Depression and war
powered refrigerators and freezers), so
eliminating daily shopping trips.
The shopper also had more control.
Instead of relying on a grocer or butcher to
select, weigh and bag items, shoppers in
self-service stores could select and inspect
items, often pre-weighed and packaged. In
what was a golden age for industrial,
packaged food production, supermarkets
were able to expand the range of items they
sold. They provided the allure of freedom of
choice, though this freedom was restricted
to what the corporations chose to sell.
Food companies invested in branding,
label aesthetics and advertising (though
offering little information about ingredients
and nutrients). As a result, consumers
developed emotional attachments to brands.
Chain supermarkets embraced fully the
values of modernity: clean white decor,
predictability, quantity over quality. Perhaps
most importantly, high volumes meant that
large chains could keep prices down while
maintaining razor-thin profit margins.
There was, of course, a flipside, and that
was the loss of personal contact. For women
with small children, shopping could be a
social experience – an opportunity to
interact with other adults. In an increasingly
impersonal and transactional environment,
this was denied them. Over the years,
grocery shopping has become ever more
mechanised, with the rise of the barcode,
self-checkout aisles and cashless payments.
A Sainsbury’s-branded horse-drawn cart
carries groceries for home delivery in 1932 –
a standard service till the rise of the car
‘Artisan’ food stalls, here at Borough Market,
London, are growing in popularity today
In 2018, you can go shopping without having
to interact with a single employee.
This has, though, met a backlash. The
growing popularity of small, artisan stores
are, in part, a reaction to large chain grocery
stores. They seek to offer quality, taste, a
personal relationship and even a backstory
to food. And consumers are increasingly
receptive, even at increased cost.
Is the supermarket facing its most serious
challenge yet? There have always been small
forces of opposition to the massive power of
supermarkets – those decrying the quality of
industrialised food, questioning the impact
of multinational food corporations on global
agriculture and economies, highlighting
animal cruelty or food waste. Today those
have become stronger and more vocal. In the
face of climate change and the multi-faceted
difficulties of feeding a growing population,
the problems facing supermarkets are more
intense than they have been
for decades.
Amy Bentley is professor in
the Department of Nutrition
and Food Studies at New
York University
DISCOVER MORE
BOOK
왘 A Cultural History of Food in the
Modern Age by Amy Bentley (ed)
(Bloomsbury Academic, 2015)
15
History now / Backgrounder

PAST NOTES
THE WORLD CUP

OLD NEWS
Suffragettes take the
fight to Dublin
Pall Mall Gazette
19 July 1912

I t wasn’t easy to be the prime minster

while women were fighting for their
right to the vote, and none was more
henpecked (or rightfully picked upon)
than that vehement anti-suffragist PM,
Mr Herbert Henry Asquith. Although
the war for suffrage had been raging
with a growing intensity since the
middle of the last century, from 1907 Italy take on West Germany in the 1962 World Cup finals
onwards the Women’s Social and in Chile. A few days later, the Italians would play a game
Political Union and its members – against the hosts that was dubbed the ‘battle of Santiago’
known as suffragettes – committed to
a far more violent course of action. As England braces itself for footballing disappointment,
When Asquith visited Dublin in 1912, Julian Humphrys explores past FIFA World Cup Finals
they threw a hatchet at his supporters
and tried to set fire to a theatre he was Where and when were the first Which was the dirtiest game?
scheduled to attend. Wherever he went, finals held? No contest: Chile v Italy in 1962.
different feminist groups were deter- In Uruguay, in 1930. The competition Dubbed ‘the Battle of Santiago’, it
mined to have their say. Earlier in the was won by the hosts, who beat was described by BBC commentator
evening, despite elaborate police Argentina 4–2 in the final. The first David Coleman as “the most stupid,
women’s final saw the US beat appalling, disgusting and disgraceful
precautions against “a suffragette
Norway 2–1 in Guangzhou in 1991. exhibition of football, possibly in the
surprise”, three boats carrying parties of history of the game”. The match,
women had appeared off Kingstown When did England first appear? which Chile won 2–0, was punctu-
LUSTRATION BY BEN JONES

Harbour (now known as Dún Not until 1950, in Brazil. England were ated by punch-ups, flying head kicks,
Laoghaire), where Asquith was due to confident, but things didn’t go well, rugby tackles, police intervention
arrive. The women carried red parasols, and they ended up on the receiving and a left hook by a Chilean player
on each of which “Votes For Women” end of one of the competition’s that Anthony Joshua would have
had been painted in large letters to catch greatest-ever shocks, losing 1–0 to been proud of. Beleaguered English
his eye. Scrambling to try to apprehend the US. Scotland first competed in referee Ken Aston sent off two Italian
Switzerland in 1954, while Wales and players – though he could justifiably
the women and the boats, a launch was
Northern Ireland made their debuts in have dismissed several more from
immediately procured from the Board Sweden in 1958; both reached the both teams.
ILL

of Works, and a party of quarter-finals.

detectives set out after And which was the greatest?
the suffragettes. Which was the most controversial Italy’s 4–3 win over West Germany in
Their fate is game of the finals? 1970 – in which five goals were
currently That unenviable accolade has to go scored in extra time – takes some
unknown. to West Germany v Austria in Spain beating. However, there’s no doubt
in 1982. To secure a result that whatsoever (in this writer’s mind, at
News story sourced from ensured they occupied the top two least) that the greatest of all was the
britishnewsp perarchive. places in their qualifying group, and final played at Wembley on 30 July
co.uk and red scovered thus progressed in the competition 1966! England beat West Germany
by Fern Riddell. Fern at the expense of Algeria, both 4–2, thanks in large part to three
regularly appears on teams passed the ball around goals by Geoff Hurst – including one
GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY

BBC Radio 3’ss Free

Thinking
aimlessly for most of the match. shot that first hit the bar and then
A disgusted Spanish media dubbed quite clearly bounced down over the
the game ‘El Anschluss’. goal line…

16 BBC History Magazine


Michael Wood on… tolerance
“Emperor Akbar came to see that
no religion can have pre-eminence”
I’m often asked: if you could travel in time,
to what period in history would you go? My
answer is always: the late 16th century. It
was an incredibly dynamic time in world
history: the new world just discovered, the European
conquests in the Americas had begun. In Europe, it was
the time of the Renaissance. In the heartland of civilisa-
tion, Eurasia, several great multiracial, multicultural
empires coexisted: the Ottomans, the Savafids in Persia,
and Mughal India. Farther east, Ming China was enjoying
a fabulous flowering. What a time to set out – as the
eccentric traveller Thomas Coryate did, in 1614 walking
from Jerusalem to India. Take me with you, Tom!
In India, the emperor Akbar (r1556–1605) was one of
the greatest figures in world history. Ruler, administrator,
war leader, patron of culture, he was a close contemporary
of Elizabeth I, and he initiated one of most fascinating
experiments in the history of civilisation.
Confronted by India’s many religions, with their claims
to absolute truth, Akbar came to see that no religion can
have pre-eminence. Indeed, no religion can be ‘the truth’,
in that all faiths are interpretations by men and are either
equally true or equally illusory. Hence, all should be free
to practise whatever faith they choose.
Akbar began to hold weekly conferences with wise men
(not women, so far as we know) from all faiths to talk
through these questions, and to apply that knowledge
to ruling the state. Eventually, he took over spiritual
leadership. He even got the Muslim clergy to pronounce
a fatwa (judgment) that he could adjudicate in any dispute
between religious authorities – so he could even overrule
the Qur’an, if necessary in the public interest.
This led to claims among his opponents that he had
actually rejected Islam and “become a kaffir”. But maybe
we should say he tried to develop a new concept of faith –
one that transcended the limits of the teachings of the
different individual religions. As a great ruler, he wanted
to establish a universal principle of tolerance, which he
called sulh-I kul: ‘Absolute Peace’ or ‘Peace for All’.
GETTY IMAGES
BBC History Magazine
Comment
There were two practical sides to this. One was to
establish freedom of worship in the public sphere,
abolishing the hated tax levied on the Hindu majority –
the jizya, “the contribution for not being put to death”.
So Mughal India was to be a unified state in which
non-Muslims could claim the same rights as Muslims.
The second concerned the private faith of the elite. He
called this the Din i-Ilahi or ‘Worship of God’. One of his
most extraordinary ideas, it wasn’t really a new religion, as
has been claimed, but a kind of Sufi system for the rulers.
At its core were 10 cardinal virtues or rules of conduct, the
essence of which was to promote mutual tolerance. What
he was trying to do was to combine aspects of different
faiths – conduct, ethics and rituals – borrowing bits from
all religions to make an ethical code for his inner circle.
Some have thought him far head of its time, but he has
also been accused of devising a pick-and mix-religion. At
the time, a Jesuit critic said: “It ended up being nothing.”
Later historians in the British Raj, who of course empha-
sised differences between Hindu and Muslim as part of
their divide-and-rule policy, dubbed it “ridiculous”. But
then they would, wouldn’t they? Looking at it now, in the
21st century, maybe you could say that Akbar’s intuitive
intelligence was smarter than their perspectives – that is, if
you see all religions as human-created attempts to express
a reality that lies beyond human comprehension.
Michael Wood His legacy was rolled back by less-enlightened succes-
is professor of sors, but it left its mark on Nehru and Gandhi and the
public history independence struggle that, in 1947, gave birth to a secular
at the University India. Today, in an India ruled by Hindu nationalists,
of Manchester. these are still massive issues – ones that also, I dare say,
He has presented affect all of us in the wider world, too.
numerous BBC Watching the news this summer, with more horrors
series and his committed in the name of religion, Akbar’s words came to
books include The mind: “Now it has become clear to me that in this world
Story of India of so many contradictions, it cannot be wisdom to assert
(BBC, 2010) the truth of one faith over another. Rather we should let
wisdom be our guide. In that way perhaps we may be able
to open again the door whose key has been lost.”
ILLUSTRATION BY FEMKE DE JONG
17
 Your views on the magazine and the world of history
LETTERS
Deep roots of division
I enjoyed your review of divisions in
modern Italian politics (Backgrounde
LETTER
OF THE June) but thought it lacked the very
MONTH historical perspective that this
magazine promotes. My wife’s
grandfather (born near Padua in the
19th century) claimed that Italy stopped at
Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini in 2015.
Such regionalist movements reflect deep-
rooted cultural divisions, says Arthur Morris
Marxism: bad science?
Gregory Claeys is too kind in his
assessment of Marx and Marxism
(The Godfather of Revolution, May).
Those intellectuals seduced by the latter
like to claim that it is based on science.
However, as the article admits, Marx
claimed that the revolution would by
necessity take place in countries with an
industrial proletariat, whereas in fact it
occurred in the less industrially
developed countries of Russia and
Karl Marx at 200
China. This basic flaw completely
undermines the so-called histori-
cal materialism of Marx, and
justifies those (such as Karl Popper)
who described Marxism as
pseudo-scientific.
In reality, Marxism is yet another
of those all-encompassing schemes
emanating from the mainland
European intellectual and political
classes, along with fascism, Nazism
and forced political integration,
58
The opinions expressed by our commentators are their own and may not represent the views of BBC History Magazine or the Immediate Media Company
18
What was done after Dunkirk?
Regarding the question of what hap-
Rome – in other words, that the south was pened to the Dunkirk evacuees after they
another country. The north-south division returned to Britain (Q&A, May), in fact
is far more deep-rooted than politics; it’s many of them did not go directly to
shaped by geography, history and econom- bases. During the evacuation it was
ics reaching back to at least the time of the decided that some would be dispersed to
Roman empire. cities and billeted in private houses.
The south had large estates that survived Officers asked householders in selected
up to the 20th century, landless workers and streets whether they had a spare bed, and
no real middle class. In the north, by those who did were expected to take one
contrast, smallholdings and the later city or two soldiers. Some houses were
states fostered a merchant class and the exempt, such as those where an occupant
cultural and economic trappings that had an infectious disease, or which were
initiated the Renaissance. These differences occupied by single old people.
lie at the heart of modern political clashes. I remember seeing a column of men
The Lega Nord (Northern League) and the marching down the road where I lived,
Five Star Movement are a continuation of and watching one or two being allocated
profound cultural divisions not easily to each house with space to take them.
subdued by 19th-century unification – divi- Two had to share a bed in our house.
sions hidden for long but made apparent by I think they went to the local school for
the economic problems of today. their meals, and were kept occupied dur-
Professor Arthur Morris, Helensburgh ing the day. They stayed for about a week
and then disappeared. This must have
쎲 We reward the Letter of
happened in various towns and cities.
the Month writer with our
‘History Choice’ book of the Alan Wright, Bath
month. This issue, it’s 1983:
The World at the Brink by Out of the frying pan
Taylor Downing. Read the After being evacuated from Dunkirk, my
review on page 67. father was posted to Iceland as part of an
occupation force. Having shivered there
for a year or so he was sent to Ethiopia!
that attract support from elites but Rev Ray Curtis, Scarborough
which prove to be a disaster for the
ordinary people. New truth about suffragettes...
The kind of democratic socialism that I found the Fern Riddell interview in
emerged in the UK from the chapels and the May issue, in which she asked: “Can
the unions, and which reached its apogee We Call the Suffragettes Terrorists?”,
under Attlee – but which is despised by absolutely fascinating. As a history
ideologues of the left – offers far more to teacher, I could not agree more that
humanity than the failed nostrums of “a half history or a sanitised history
Marx and his apologists. serves no one”. The piece revealed
Colin Bullen, Kent some uncomfortable but vital truths
about the suffrage movement and the
fight for the vote.
It is key that students learn about all
actions that were taken in order to gain
the vote in 1918 and 1928, and Riddell’s
article has made me reconsider how
I will teach suffrage in the future. When
I was taught the topic myself, the arson
ALAMY/BEN JONES
attacks and bombings were largely left
The godfather out. Telegraph wire-cutting was not.
of revolution Marx’s birth, Gregory Claeys
Future generations must understand the
On the 200th anniversary of Karl
reveals how a poverty stricken dissident
became one of the most
the world
full extent of the fight for equal suffrage.
inluential thinkers in the history of
BBC History Magazine
ILLUSTRATION BY BEN JONES
BBC History Magazine
59
Elise Foulds, Manchester
BBC History Magazine

Wrecked stands at Hurst Park racecourse after an arson attack by Kitty Marion and
Clara Giveen in 1913. Some early suffragette histories downplayed such attacks
...or
orr an old
ld st
story
tory retold?
rettold?
ld?
In the Fern Riddell interview she claims
that “no one knows” about the violence
undertaken by the suffragettes. She argues
that its “true extent” has been “hidden in
archives, forgotten, ignored, or passed
over” by historians until she discovered it.
Yet in this very magazine in May 2007, the
late CJ Bearman and myself had an
exchange of views on this subject in The
Suffragettes: Heroes or Terrorists?
Furthermore, Simon Webb has said it all
before in his 2014 book The Suffragette
Bombers: Britain’s Forgotten Terrorists.
After discussing the violent acts
undertaken by one such suffragette,
Kitty Marion, Riddell then generalises to
say that the suffragettes were “terrorists”.
What is remarkable is that Riddell does
not define ‘terrorism’. If the suffragettes
were such fearsome ‘terrorists’ – whom
she mentions in the same breath as the
IRA – how was it that they killed no one?
Emmeline Pankhurst gave instructions
MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY
that human life was not to be recklessly
endangered, and that order was obeyed.
June Purvis, emeritus professor of
women’s and gender history, University
of Portsmouth
Fern Riddell replies: The work of C J
Bearman is clearly acknowledged in my
BBC History Magazine
b ook
book.k H owever my resear
However, ch
researchh is the
h very
first to combine court, police and
newspaper records and Home Office
files as well as personal memoirs, coded
diaries and letters of the suffragettes.
In my book, the contemporary
definition of terrorism sits alongside
the Pall Mall Gazette’s article on
‘Suffragette Terrorism’ (19 February
1913). In disregard for the fact that this
is how the violence was referred to at
the time, Professor Purvis has claimed
that those who acknowledge the
suffragettes as terrorists are misguided
and sensationalist. Yet it is neither of
those things, simply accurate history.
The suffragettes were intensely proud of
their “Reign of Terror” and, as Emme-
line Pankhurst said, “The result was
exactly what we anticipated. The public
were thrown into a state of emotion of
insecurity and frightened expectancy.”
WRITE TO US
We welcome your letters, while
reserving the right to edit them.
We may publish your letters on our
website. Please include a daytime
phone number and, if emailing, a postal
address (not for publication). Letters
should be no longer than 250 words.
email: letters@historyextra.com
Post: Letters, BBC History Magazine,
Immediate Media Company
Bristol Ltd, Tower House,
Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN
SOCIAL MEDIA
What you’ve been saying
on Twitter and Facebook
Kate Bush has revealed
that she is writing a new
tribute to Emily Brontë.
To which historical
igure would you write
a tribute, and why?
Andrew Ellis Ptolemy I Soter, who
founded the Library at Alexandria –
a place where knowledge could be
gathered and available for research
@meganymeg Anne Boleyn, who
sparked my interest in history and
was one of the first feminists
@ruthjoyceart Marianne North, the
Victorian botanical artist. She
travelled the world creating
beautiful landscape and plant-
focused paintings. She was
independent and passionate, and
should be more well-known
@Secoco75 Bess of Hardwick, a
clever woman who was truly ahead
of her time. Bess helped modernise
the medieval castle through her
ambitious building projects, and
was one of the wealthiest and most
powerful women in England during
the reign of Elizabeth I
@patreidmedia William Shake-
speare – arguably the most signifi-
cant individual of the past 500
years. He deployed the English
language so effectively that we all
still quote him and echo his ideas,
whether we’re aware of it or not
@ThomasK83614488 Geoffrey
Chaucer. He popularised the English
language in literature, helping to
cement it as the language of court,
law and so on, replacing French
@LordMayoCVHS Harry Truman,
largely for his courageous civil
rights address to Congress, and the
subsequent legislation he proposed.
He was also honest and a model
husband and father
@KMBraithwaite Samuel Pepys
– his diaries are a major contribution
to 17th–century history
@Sally_Shearn Sir William
Vaughan. He wrote a conduct book
and a health book, and tried to
found a Welsh colony in Newfound-
land – it was short-lived, but no one
could say he didn’t dream big!
@JamesGeorgeson John Harrison,
who create the first accurate
timekeeping devices for navigation
19
The Windrush generation

“LONDON
IS THE
PLACE
FOR ME”
There’s plenty of feelgood
symbolism surrounding the
70th anniversary of the arrival
of West Indians in Britain on
the Windrush. But, argues
David Olusoga, Britain’s nostalgia
for this event obscures a more
complex story of imperial subjects
attempting to exercise their rights
in the face of institutional racism

20 BBC History Magazine

 Blowing into Blighty
Mona Baptiste, a Trinidad-born blues
singer, entertains fellow passengers on
the Windrush. She later sang with
Ted Heath’s big band and worked in the
ALAMY

film industry in Germany

BBC History Magazine 21

The Windrush generation
In the 1930s, MV Monte Rosa hosted holiday cruises for the Nazi faithful. The ship was
subsequently captured by the British and, a prize of war, renamed Empire Windrush
O
n the day that Empire Windrush the war. Thus, the new arrivals from the
arrived at Tilbury docks in
late June 1948, a contingent of
newspaper reporters and a film islands, who had come to Britain to help the
crew from Pathé News were
on hand to film, photograph
and interview the hundreds
of men and women from the Caribbean who
disembarked. Among the press pack was Peter
Fryer, a journalist at the Daily Worker who
would later write the book Staying Power,
the first encyclopedic history of the black
presence in Britain. His report, entitled Five
Hundred Pairs of Willing Hands, was largely
in step with the upbeat and positive tone
that characterised how the day’s events were
presented to the British public. The film crew
from Pathé sought out one of the celebrities
on board, the Trinidadian calypso singer
Aldwyn Roberts, who performed under
the stage name Lord Kitchener. He provided
the day with a soundtrack: an impromptu
a cappella performance of a song he had
composed on the voyage across the Atlantic,
‘London Is the Place for Me’.
Both newsreels and newspapers portrayed
the unexpected arrival of the West Indians as
something of a novelty, but were careful also
to frame it within the bigger story of Britain’s
slow journey towards economic recovery. The
incessantly forward-looking positivity, which
was an inescapable feature of news reportage
during those less-cynical years, reflected the
fact that maintaining public morale in 1948
was almost as essential as it had been during
22
Windrush were depicted as plucky pioneers,
victims of economic difficulties in their home
‘mother country’ in its hour of need. Their
misfortune was to be Britain’s gain, but the
stress was firmly on the message that they
had come here to work, as indeed they had.
What few people in the drab, war-ravaged
Britain of 1948 could have imagined is that
70 years later the events of that day would
be regarded as a landmark in 20th-century
British history – the symbolic beginning of a
wave of migration that was to last for decades
and change Britain in multiple ways. Nor
would those who read the newspapers the
next day, or watched Pathé’s newsreel report
in their local cinema, have dreamed that, by
the time their own baby-boom infants were in
their sixties and seventies, the obscure troop-
ship moored at Tilbury would have given
its name to a public square in Brixton
– then a poor, white, working-class
district. The notion that in the same
square would stand a Black Cultural
Archives, an institution dedicated
to the celebration and research of
something called black British
Lord Kitchener (1922–
2000) performed
regularly for the
BBC after arriving
in the UK on the
Windrush
history, would have sounded preposterous. Yet
today there is not only a Windrush Square and
a Black Cultural Archives but also a Windrush
Foundation, and there have been calls for a
Windrush day to be established.
It’s even less likely that the Britons of 1948
could have conceived that, 70 years later, the
government would be rocked by a public
outcry over the news that some of the
so-called ‘Windrush generation’ had been
asked to prove their rights to UK citizenship,
with some denied benefits or medical
treatment, even deported.
Why has the story of the Windrush, and the
journey it made in the summer of 1948, been
so embraced and latterly inducted into the
British national story? The ship was not even
the first to bring West Indian migrants to
Britain. In March 1947, the SS Ormonde
transported 108 migrants from Jamaica to
Liverpool. In December that year the
Almanzora, carrying around 200 people
from the West Indies, docked at
Southampton.
In the media glare
Part of the answer lies in the
ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES/TOPFOTO
fact that the Windrush’s
arrival was so well recorded
by the men from Pathé and
journalists such as Peter
Fryer. But it was also an event
ideally suited to mythologisa-
tion: the ship that carried
to England the
BBC History Magazine
 ABOVE: A model of the Windrush built for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.
The vessel herself sank in the Mediterranean in 1954 following an engine-room explosion
LEFT: Members of the Royal Air Force speak to some of those arriving in the UK from the
West Indies after the Windrush docked at the Port of Tilbury in June 1948

hopeful and the industrious, the empire’s own
“huddled masses”. That the Windrush sailed
to Tilbury, the Thames port from which
Elizabeth I gave her speech in defiance of the
approaching Spanish Armada, adds to the
potency of the symbolism. Today, in another
very British gesture, a heritage plaque marks
where the Windrush landed.
But if there was any single moment in
which the Windrush’s place within main-
stream British history was confirmed, it was
during the opening ceremony of the London
2012 Olympic Games. In that great pageant of
national celebration, a miniature replica of
the Windrush was paraded around the track
of the shiny new Olympic stadium built on
former industrial land that had been heavily
bombed during the Blitz.
The miniature Windrush was presented to
the crowds alongside other symbolic repre-
sentations of pivotal events in British history:
the industrial revolution, the First World War,
the campaigns of the suffragettes, the Jarrow
march, and the creation of the NHS in 1948
– the same year that the Windrush arrived.
That evening, the place of the Windrush in
the British national story was affirmed and
made almost sacrosanct.
The importance of the Windrush in
postwar British history is all the more surpris-
ing given the vessel’s forgotten backstory.
GETTY IMAGES
The Windrush’s
arrival was an
event suited to
mythologisation:
a ship carrying
the hopeful and
the industrious
in one of the shipyards that then lined the
Clyde and the Tyne but in Hamburg, by the
German firm Blohm & Voss. The name the
ship was given at her launch was MV Monte
Rosa, and between 1933 and 1939 she carried
German families on holiday cruises. These
jaunts were organised and subsidised by
Strength Through Joy, a Nazi party organisa-
tion created to promote public health and
break down class barriers. According to
Nazi doctrine, the only distinctions that
mattered in the Third Reich were those of
blood and race.
invasion of that vulnerable nation. Among the
passengers she carried on a return trip from
Norway were Norwegian Jews – men, women
and children who were then deported to
Auschwitz, where most died.
The Monte Rosa herself, having survived
attempts by both the RAF and Norwegian
resistance to sink her, was finally captured by
British forces and claimed as a prize of war.
The fact that a ship once operated by a regime
built upon notions of racial purity should, by
random chance, have become the most potent
symbol of Britain’s post-war transformation
into a multicultural and multiracial society
is loaded with irony.
A right to travel
Among those who travelled on the Windrush
in 1948 were men and women from Jamaica,
Trinidad, British Guiana (now Guyana),
some of the smaller Caribbean islands, and
the Atlantic island of Bermuda. Officially,
their journey was not so much a migration as
a relocation, and in the strict sense they were
not immigrants. Rather, they were British
citizens moving from one part of their empire
to another, as so many of those on board had
done during the war years. By making the
same journey in peacetime, they were merely
exercising rights they shared with all citizens
of the British empire, and with the 49 million

The ship we know as the Empire Windrush In 1939, the MV Monte Rosa was requisi- inhabitants of the United Kingdom itself.
was built in the early 1930s and originally tioned and became a troopship, landing the That same year, British parliamentarians
fitted out as a passenger liner, then converted grey phalanxes of Hitler’s Wehrmacht on the debated a new act intended to reaffirm exactly
into a cruise ship. But she was constructed not shores of Norway during the one-sided those rights. The 1948 British Nationality Act

BBC History Magazine 23

The Windrush generation
In 1959, the far-right White Defence League and National Labour Party held a rally in
Trafalgar Square, but opposition to black settlement in the UK wasn’t just from the fringes
was passed in order to maintain and enhance
the bonds between Britain and what were
then called the ‘white dominions’ – Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It
was the white people of those lands that MPs
hoped would feel the warm embrace of the
empire, and whom those MPs imagined
would exercise rights of residence.
Thousands of men and women from other
parts of the empire had served Britain in
wartime. What British politicians of all
parties had failed to appreciate was that, by
dint of that transformative experience, these
people had come to understand how the
empire worked, and how it might be made to
work for them. These were people unafraid of
travelling huge distances, who had, in many
cases, already spent time in Britain, in the
forces or in the factories. Having fought or
laboured for king and empire, they now
sought work in the mother country in
peacetime. A significant reduction in the
costs of international travel in the postwar
years removed the last barrier that had
prevented earlier generations of West Indians,
Africans and Indians from exercising their
rights to live in Britain.
Even as MPs sat across from one another on
the benches of parliament, debating the new
nationality act, the ship that was to become
the symbol of postwar migration was already
at sea. The migrants no one expected, the
nucleus of the Windrush generation, had
already found their berths, intent on exercis-
ing their rights of citizenship and residence.
24
Windrush happened by accident. The idea
that, in the aftermath of the Second World
War, Britain introduced an open-door
immigration policy is a misreading of history.
The door had long been open; all that was
different is that, after the war, black people
as well as white people passed through it.
In one telling of the Windrush story,
opposition to black settlement in Britain
came only from the bottom up – from
working-class people: boarding-house
keepers who put “No Blacks, No Irish” signs
in their front windows, or trade unionists
who opposed black workers being given jobs
alongside whites. What has been lost in this
version of the past is the level of official
opposition to what was then called new
Commonwealth immigration.
Skilled people
Having failed to foresee that educated, worldly
West Indians would seek to use their rights of
residence, the government sought other ways
to keep them out. Even before the Windrush
had set sail from Jamaica, Prime Minister
Clement Attlee had sought to find some
pretext to prevent it from leaving Kingston.
When that failed, the government enquired
as to whether the Windrush might be diverted
to east Africa where the black migrants –
engineers, welders, students, academics,
mechanics, tailors, electricians, civil servants,
machinists, boxers, and musicians such as
Lord Kitchener – might be offered agricul-
tural work in the fields of Kenya.
Prime Minister
Clement Attlee
sought to find
some pretext
to prevent
the Windrush
leaving Kingston
The day after the Empire Windrush reached
Tilbury, Attlee received a letter from 11 Labour
MPs demanding immediate actions be taken to
prevent black British citizens from exercising
the rights they held equally with other subjects
of the empire. “The British people,” they wrote,
“fortunately enjoy a profound unity without
uniformity in their way of life, and are blest by
the absence of a colour racial problem. An in-
flux of coloured people domiciled here is likely
to impair the harmony, strength and cohesion
of our public and social life and cause discord
and unhappiness among all concerned.”
Three decades before Windrush, the then
secretary of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines’
Protection Society, John Hobbis Harris,
remarked that what “the British public does
not realise adequately is that we are a coloured
empire… We are an empire of 435,000,000,
and 350,000,000 are coloured… You cannot
prevent the black man from coming here,
because this is the centre of his empire. You
could no more tell him that he must not come
to London, Liverpool or Cardiff than he has
the right to tell you that you must not go to
Lagos or Durban or Johannesburg.”
One of the great ironies of British history is
that it was at the very moment the empire
began to disintegrate that its black and brown
citizens began to settle in the mother country
in large numbers. As Britain’s global power
ebbed away, her colonial subjects flocked to
her shores, and only in the final act of the
imperial story did the faces on the streets of
London, Liverpool and Cardiff remind the
onlooker that the nation had for centuries
stood at the centre of a “coloured empire”.
David Olusoga is an award-winning historian,
broadcaster and author of Black and British:
A Forgotten History (Macmillan, 2016)
DISCOVER MORE
TV
GETTY IMAGES
왘 Black and British: A Forgotten History,
presented by David Olusoga and
shown on BBC Four, is currently
available online at BBC iPlayer
BBC History Magazine
 Margaret MacMillan The interview

“Most westerners have not

experienced conlict irst hand.
We’ve come to think that peace
is normal, but history has
repeatedly been marked by war”
Margaret MacMillan talks to Ellie Cawthorne about
humanity’s apparent compulsion to go to war

Accompanies Margaret MacMillan’s BBC Radio 4

Reith Lectures, The Mark of Cain, beginning in late June
BBC

BBC History Magazine 25

War and society
In your Reith Lectures, you will argue
that war has been an essential part of
human history. Why is that the case?
War has always been an important
dimension of how societies have developed.
If you want to understand the past, you have
to understand the part that war had to play in
that past.
In fact, a lot of anthropologists are now
arguing that the entire organisation of
human society is tied up with our ability to
order ourselves to fight wars. Once you
embark on war, you need structures and
soldiers. You need someone to give the orders
and someone to take the orders. And that all
requires societal organisation: the two things
are intimately linked. War has shaped how
societies have developed, but societies’ shape
has also determined the nature of war. So it’s
real chicken-and-egg stuff.
War has taken many forms through
history, so how have you gone about
deining it?
It’s very tricky, but the closest definition I’ve
come to is that war is an organised act of
violence against another organisation, with
the end goal of forcing the other side to do
what you want. Again, the organisation part
is key. If I go and beat someone up in the
street, that’s not a war, regardless of what we
may call it. It’s one-on-one violence. Whether
it’s a conflict between competing religious
orders, a civil war, or one between two rival
states, war involves organised bodies inflicting
violence on one another.
Why do you reject the assumptions
that peace is the status quo and that
war is simply a breakdown of that
natural state?
In recent history, most of us living in the west
have been extremely lucky – we have not
experienced war first hand, and we’ve lived
through what some people call the ‘long
peace’. As such, we’ve come to think that
peace is normal, and that war is something
that doesn’t really affect us – it happens on
the other side of the world and involves other
types of people.
But the reality is that war is rife elsewhere
around the globe. If you take a good look
at human history, it’s repeatedly been
marked by war. I’m not saying that is a
good or a bad thing, but it’s simply been
the case. Whether it’s the Middle Ages,
the Renaissance or the 18th, 19th and
20th centuries, it’s very hard to think of
a century in European history that hasn’t
witnessed war.
So yes, I would argue that war isn’t just
26
a disruption of normality, not just an absence
Whether it’s the of peace – it’s something we seem to keep
returning to over and over again as a species.
Middle Ages, the War is deeply woven into human history and
I find that very interesting.
Renaissance or Have people’s motivations for going to
the 20th century, war changed over the centuries?
We need to understand the motivations on
it’s very hard to two levels. Firstly, there are the motivations
prompting a large organisation – whether a
think of a period feudal state, a kingdom or an empire – to go
to war. These can cover anything from
conquest or defence to questions of honour.
in European Then there are the motivations inspiring
individuals to go to war, which could be even
history that hasn’t more complicated. Culture has played an
important – and often surprising – role here.
witnessed war You can look through the past and see
cultures that were definitely warrior cultures,
in which young men (occasionally women,
but mainly men) were brought up to see
fighting as one of the most noble things you
could do. So there’s a desire for glory: young
men often say that they want to test them-
selves in the heat of war.
After the French Revolution there was a
very new and important notion that everyone
was a citizen rather than a subject. As a
subject of the king you might owe the
monarch a debt of duty, but you didn’t feel
any kind of responsibility for the state. But as
a citizen, the state belonged to you, so you
were obliged to support and defend it. That’s
one example of how culture has made a huge
difference in how people fight, and whether
they want to.
Social pressure has also played an impor-
tant role in motivating people to go to war. In
Crusaders set sail from France for the Roman Republic, it was just assumed that
the Holy Land, as depicted in a all young men would volunteer to fight. It was
1337 manuscript. In feudal states, seen as totally normal that you would leave
many subjects felt that it was their your farm or your trade to go away to war,
duty to fight for their monarch
perhaps for as long as seven years. If you lived
in a society in which you were expected to
fight, it could be very difficult not to. We
know that in the First World War, men were
under tremendous pressure to sign up –
women gave out white feathers to those they
felt should have been enlisting, while
conscientious objectors were shamed, vilified
and imprisoned. On the front lines, many
soldiers were forced by their own officers
to fight – on pain of death.
Once in battle, what often seems to
happen is that soldiers fight for those
they are with. Countless memoirs
recount that once you get into a war zone,
BRIDGEMAN
you go ahead because you don’t want to let
down the men you’re fighting alongside.
Intense bonds of comradeship could develop,
BBC History Magazine

Women and children line up to register with the rationing service in 1939. “Studies
suggest that the average Briton was better fed during the Second World War than
ever before,” says Margaret MacMillan
and again and again you see injured men
desperate to get back to the front for fear of
letting down their friends. So there’s
definitely a mixture of motives.
Has war ever beneited societies?
One of war’s many paradoxes is that it has
often led to progress. Things that seem
impossible in peacetime suddenly become
possible in wartime. In peacetime, govern-
ments will say that they simply can’t spend the
money required for certain ambitious
projects. But if you think your whole society is
at stake, then suddenly you find the money.
Governments find that they can tax a lot more
during war, because the public appreciates the
need to mobilise all national resources.
One example was the Manhattan Project
to develop the first atom bomb. This was a
hugely expensive enterprise, but during the
Second World War people thought it simply
had to be done. When it came to the crunch,
the government was prepared to put up the
money. As a result, we ended up with nuclear
weapons but we also got nuclear power, which
I think you can argue has been a positive
thing. Another example is penicillin. It had
already been discovered by Alexander
Fleming in 1928, but was very expensive to
mass produce. But then the bloodshed of the
GETTY IMAGES
Second World War came along, and somehow
that expense became bearable.
Economic historians are producing some
really interesting work that argues war can
BBC History Magazine
also lead to what they call a ‘compression of
society’. This means that war can result in
more people sharing in prosperity, with less of
a gap between the very rich and the very poor.
The poles are pushed together. During war,
you tax the rich and also have to implement
policies to keep the poorest parts of society
onside – they need to be fed and looked after.
Studies suggest that the average Briton was
better fed during the Second World War than
ever before. The period from 1914 to the 1960s
probably saw the greatest equality in western
societies, and I would argue that that was
largely due to the impact of the world wars.
Another way that war has triggered
societies to progress more recently has been
through changing the position of women.
The First World War provides a great example
of this. A large part of why women in Britain
were denied the vote – despite tireless
campaigning – was because people thought
they weren’t qualified to make important
decisions, and didn’t have the capacity to do
the same jobs as men. However, during the
First World War, when men were away
fighting, many traditionally male jobs fell to
women. And it turned out that women could
do all sorts of things that many people
thought they would never be able to – such as
driving tractors, working on factory assembly
lines and running offices. After that, the
opposition to women getting the vote simply
melted away. In the heat of war, they had
proven themselves worthy.
War can result
in more people
sharing in
prosperity. You tax
the rich and have
to implement
policies to keep
the poor onside
Will war always be an inevitable part
of change and development?
It’s very difficult to tell. At the end of the Cold
War, I think we hoped that humanity had
somehow moved beyond war. And then the
Iraq War broke out in 2003, and the war in
Afghanistan, and now there’s conflict in Syria.
I’m certainly not saying that war is inevitable
– and I would hate to think that that was the
case – but I just don’t see it disappearing any
time soon.
In the future, it might well be that we don’t
try to kill each other in battle, but instead
move into areas such as cyberwar. With
cyberwar there’s no need to send soldiers or
ships off to tackle the enemy. Instead you can
simply cripple the systems on which your
opponents depend. If you think about how
much societies now rely on computerised
networks, you can see the potential.
Margaret MacMillan is a professor of history at the
University of Toronto and the former warden of
St Antony’s College, Oxford
DISCOVER MORE
RADIO
왘 Margaret MacMillan’s Reith Lectures,
entitled The Mark of Cain,
will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4,
beginning on Tuesday 26 June at 9am
BOOK
왘 The War that Ended Peace
by Margaret MacMillan (Profile, 2013)
27
Ragnar Lothbrok

28 BBC History Magazine

 THE
IMMORTAL
VIKING
He butchered serpents, pillaged on an epic scale,
laughed in the face of death – and, in doing so, helped
forge the modern ideal of the archetypal Viking
warrior. Eleanor Parker tells the story of the
ultimate Norse legend: Ragnar Lothbrok
ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGIE GOZEM

BBC History Magazine 29

Ragnar Lothbrok

C
onsider the quintessential
Norse warrior – the
fearsome raider, the
merciless foe, the
ale-swilling pagan who
laughed in the face of
death – and the chances
are you’re thinking about
Ragnar Lothbrok. Ragnar’s adventures read
like they’ve been plucked from a Hollywood
blockbuster. The son of a king of Denmark
and Sweden, he fought giant snakes, led
armies into battle, conquered vast swathes of
Scandinavia, and terrorised the unsuspecting
people of the British Isles.
Many, if not all, of Ragnar’s adventures are
mythical – the product of Norse chroniclers’
vivid imaginations. But that didn’t stop them
casting a long shadow over northern Europe
during the Viking age. And, courtesy of
everything from epic medieval poems and
death songs to the blockbuster TV series
Vikings – they’ve continued to do so for more
than a thousand years.
For pure drama, Ragnar’s story takes
some beating. Even his three wives were
extraordinary characters. One was Thora, A ninth-century Viking picture-stone showing duelling warriors. Could Ragnar Lothbrok’s
legendary tale be based on the warlike Danish leader Reginheri, who attacked Paris in
whom Ragnar wooed by killing a ferocious 845, capturing and killing many of its people?
serpent. Another was Lathgertha, a mighty
warrior who fought alongside her husband in
battle. And the other was Aslaug, daughter of it might – just might – have been inspired by less clear. One candidate for the figure on
Sigurd the Volsung and the shield-maiden the exploits of a historical figure. whom Ragnar might be based is a Viking
Brynhild, themselves two of the most Some of the men described in medieval leader from Denmark named Reginheri, who
celebrated lovers in Norse literature. legend as “sons of Ragnar” were certainly real attacked Paris in 845. Contemporary sources
By these wives, Ragnar had at least eight people. Ivar, Ubbe and Bjorn, among others, say that raid was especially ferocious, telling
sons – Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, can be identified with Viking leaders who how Reginheri took many captives and had
Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye and Ubbe among were active in France, Ireland and England in more than 100 executed. Soon afterwards
their number. These offspring were just as the second half of the ninth century. Reginheri returned to Denmark, where he
warlike as Ragnar and – courtesy of their own A Viking warrior named Bjorn – probably died. We know nothing more about him.
escapades – ensured that their father’s name the inspiration for Bjorn Ironside – is known
lived on long after he met his death. to have been raiding in the area around the The stuf of legend
Seine in 857–59. Ivar and Ubbe were among In fact, as the histories of this period were
Revenge in battle the leaders of the so-called ‘Great Heathen written, it was not Ragnar but his supposed
That death, when it came, was every bit as Army’ that descended on England in 865, sons who were at first the focus of chroniclers’
dramatic as the life that preceded it. While on conquering Northumbria and defeating its tales. Ivar, Ubbe and the rest were among the
campaign in northern England, Ragnar, we’re kings, Osberht and Ælla, in a great battle at most successful warriors of the Viking age,
told, was captured by Ælla, king of York in 867. In 869 they moved south and and their conquests and battles swiftly
Northumbria. Ælla was hellbent on putting killed King Edmund of East Anglia. Many of became the stuff of legend. It was not until the
his Viking foe to death but found that no their followers settled in northern and eastern second half of the 11th century – nearly 200
ordinary weapons could kill him, so he had England, while Ivar became ruler of a Viking years after their deaths – that they began to
Ragnar thrown into a snake-pit. But not even kingdom that stretched across the Irish Sea, be identified as “sons of Ragnar Lothbrok”.
this grisly fate was enough to deflate the with strongholds in Dublin and York. It is A Danish king called Lothbrok was first
irrepressible Ragnar. With death approach- recorded that Ivar died in Dublin in 873. mentioned in around 1070 by the Norman
ing, the Viking warrior recalled with pleasure As for Ubbe, he may have been killed in battle historian William of Jumièges, who named
his greatest victories and savoured the in Devon in 878. him as the father of Bjorn Ironside. A few
prospect of feasting in Valhalla, the great hall The activities of these warriors are attested years later the chronicler Adam of Bremen
for slain Viking warriors. More ominously for in contemporary sources of the ninth century. identified Ivar, “cruellest of Norse warriors”,
Ælla, he vowed to exact revenge on his killer We can be confident that these men existed. as another of Lothbrok’s sons.
– a promise that was followed through by his But there’s a problem: we do not know exactly This Lothbrok may originally have been a
sons, who duly went on to conquer how they were related to one other, and none of separate person from Ragnar, and the origin
AKG-IMAGES

Northumbria and slay Ælla in battle. the early sources tells us who their father was. of the name has been heavily debated. The
It’s an enthralling story. But what makes Although his ‘sons’ were real enough, the Icelandic scholar Ari Þorgilsson, writing
it more tantalising still is the prospect that historical origins of Ragnar himself are much between 1120 and 1133, was the first to record

30 BBC History Magazine

 thbrok together
‘Ragnar’ and ‘Lothbrok’ together, claiming it
was “Ivar, son of Ragnar Lothbrok” who
killed Edmund of East Anglia. In England, Lothbrok most
Whatever the h historical origins of Ragnar
Lothbrok, by the 12th century his legend was oten appears in legends
rapidly emergingg from his sons’ shadows and
appearing in sagaas, chronicles and poems
connected to the killing of
across the North Sea world. By this time, a
complex and colo ourful web of tales had
King Edmund, one of the
developed around him – far removed Anglo-Saxons’ most
from any likely historical origins.
The fullest verssions of the story – popular saints
on which most modern
m iterations
of the legends aree based – are
found in the Old Norse Ragnars
The mythical Ragnar
w
saga Loðbrókar, written in Iceland Lothbrok terrorised the
in the 13th century, and the seas around northern
works of Danish historian
h Europe aboard a Viking
Saxo Grammaticus, writ- longship – like the one
ing between 1188 and 1208. depicted here in an
illumination. But, in one
Both mix earlier written
w version of his story, a
sources with dispparate oral leg- shipwreck off the coast of
ends to produce elaborate,
e England led to his demise
lengthy, contradictory
narratives. The taales of
Ragnar’s three wiives
may be the result of an
attempt to combiine three
separate legends about
a Ragnar.

Later perceptions
These stories tell us much more about
how the Vikings were perceived by later
medieval audiencces in Scandinavia than they
do about historiccal ninth-century warriors.
Saxo was interestted in these men as ancestors
of the kings of Deenmark, while Icelandic
historians were eager to draw attention to
Scandinavian domination of the British Isles.
As time went on, the legend continued to
incorporate new aspects, and became linked
to another of the most famous cycles of Norse
legend, the tale of the Volsungs (now
best-known as th he story behind Wagner’s
Ring Cycle).
But it wasn’t on
nly in Scandinavia that
Ragnar’s escapades found willing audiences.
Around the samee time, legends about this cel-
ebrated Viking warrior were being enjoyed by
English audiences, too. Here, Lothbrok
and his sons mostt often appeared
in legends conneccted to
the death of
Edmund of
East Anglia,
one of the
Anglo-Saxons’
most popular sain nts.
One 13th-century chronicle tells
how Lothbrok waas innocently hunting at sea
when he was ship pwrecked on the coast of
ALAMY

Norfolk and brou ught to Edmund’s court. He

and Edmund beccame close friends, provoking

BBC History Magazzine

Ragnar Lothbrok

Snakes, songs and shaggy breeches

Three of Ragnar Lothbrok’s greatest escapades
W

Love and poison

One of Ragnar’s adventures explains how he got the
nickname ‘Lothbrok’ while winning Thora, one of his
wives. Thora was the daughter of a powerful earl, and one
day her father gave her a little snake as a present. She
kept the snake as a pet, but it quickly grew into a huge,
poisonous serpent that terrorised the neighbourhood.
Thora’s father swore that he would give his daughter in
marriage to any man who could kill the serpent. Hearing
this, Ragnar decided to fight the snake. To defend himself
against its venom, he coated his legs in woolly breeches
that were coated with tar, making them stiff and impen-
etrable. He fought and killed the serpent, and claimed
Thora as his prize. As a result he became known as
Lothbrok – ‘shaggy breeches’.

W The vengeful sons

Ragnar was captured in battle by Ælla, king of
Northumbria, who imprisoned him in a pit full of
snakes. As the snakes fed on his body, Ragnar
sang a song of courageous defiance, listing the
battles he had won and looking forward to feasting
in Valhalla after death: “Gladly shall I drink ale with
the gods on the high benches. Hope of life is gone;
laughing, I shall die!”
When Ragnar’s sons heard of his death, the legend
says that their reactions revealed which of them was
most dangerous. Sigurd cut himself with a knife
without noticing the pain; Hvitserk, playing a game
when the news came, squeezed a game-piece so
tightly that his hand bled; but Ivar was able to master
his shock enough to ask for every detail of his father’s
death. He set out with his brothers to avenge their
father, and conquered Northumbria.

A dragon-slayer’s daughter
W
On one occasion, as Ragnar was sailing along the coast of
Norway, his men went to find food at a farm where an old
peasant couple lived. The couple had a beautiful daughter,
Kráka, and when the men told Ragnar about her, he ordered her
to come and see him on his ship. But he tested her by setting
impossible conditions: she must be neither naked nor clothed,
neither hungry nor full, and neither alone nor with company.
Kráka thought hard about how to follow these commands,
and worked out a solution to the riddle. She went to meet
Ragnar covered only by a fishing net and her own long hair;
after having tasted food, but not eaten it; and accompanied by
a dog. Impressed, Ragnar married her, and in time he learned
she was not really a peasant-girl – her real name was Aslaug,
and she was the daughter of the famous dragon-slayer Sigurd
the Volsung.
GEORGIE GOZEM

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGIE GOZEM

32 BBC History Magazine

 In the 17th century,
‘The Death-Song of
Ragnar Lothbrok’
ofered a glimpse
of a Viking culture
imbued with savage,
pagan glamour

the jealousy of one of Edmund’s huntsmen.

That huntsman murdered Lothbrok and then
told Lothbrok’s sons that Edmund was to
blame for the murder. This version of the
legend attempts to provide Ivar and Ubbe with
a motive for killing Edward, so implying that
this wasn’t a mindless act of Viking brutality.
It presents Lothbrok as a sympathetic
character – very different from the fierce
warrior of Norse tradition. Does this mean
that some people in eastern England regarded
ninth-century Danish invaders as ancestors,
not enemies? We’ll probably never know, but
it’s an intriguing possibility.
By the end of the medieval period, Ragnar’s
name was familiar to people across
Scandinavia and the British Isles. But it was
in the 16th and 17th centuries – as scholars
began to rediscover Old Norse and Old
English texts, plus the work of Saxo
Grammaticus – that the modern Ragnar was
born. In 1636, the Danish scholar Ole Worm
translated Krákumál, an Old Norse poem
about Ragnar’s death, into Latin, and it
quickly became popular with readers in
Britain. Krákumál was usually known in
English as ‘The Death-Song of Ragnar
Lothbrok’, and for 17th-century readers it
seemed to offer an exciting glimpse of a
Viking culture imbued with savage, pagan
glamour. It provided a romantic image of a
heroic and fearless Viking: glorying in battle
and bloodshed, eager to enter Valhalla and Vikings disembark in England in a 12th-century manuscript. Ubbe and Ivar the Boneless,
feast with the gods for eternity. both of whom were described as “sons of Ragnar”, attacked north-east England in 865
Worm’s translation inadvertently added
another layer to the Viking legend. A poetic
reference to a drinking horn – “the curved then his story has been reimagined many
branches of [animal] skulls” – was misunder- times – in novels, Hollywood films and, most
stood to imply that the Vikings drank from recently, in a popular TV series. Stories about
the skulls of their enemies. This arresting Ragnar and his sons have been told for almost
idea, though completely untrue, is still a thousand years, and even today new legends
sometimes encountered today. about these archetypal Viking warriors
DISCOVER MORE
The popularity of the ‘Death Song’ meant continue to be created.
that, by the 19th century, when the Vikings WEBSITE
were hugely fashionable in Britain and Eleanor Parker is the author of Dragon Lords: 왘 Read more articles from
ALAMY

America, Ragnar had become one of the The History and Legends of Viking England BBC History Magazine about the Viking era
best-known figures from Norse legend. Since (IB Tauris, June 2018) at historyextra.com/period/viking

BBC History Magazine 33

Save when you subscribe
to the digital edition

Available from
BBC History Magazinee is Britain’s bestselling history
magazine. We feature leading historians writing lively
and thought-provoking new takes on the
great events of the past.
past

Anne of Denmark

Anne of Denmark
shown in riding garb
in a 1617 painting by
Flemish artist
Paul van Somer. Her
marriage to James VI
and I was often troubled

KILLER
Anne of Denmark was wed as a teenager to
the iercely Protestant James VI (and later I), but
had strong Catholic sympathies. As the sta ate
of her marriage deteriorated, Tracy Borm man
asks, could Anne have been a “great patro on”
behind the gunpowder plot?

A rosary and Bible. It was

BRIDGEMAN

rumoured that Anne had

secretly converted to
Catholicism before James
ascended the English throne

58 BBC History Magazine BBC History Magazine 59

Enjoy our Premium App experience now available from

A D V E R T I S E M E N T F E AT U R E

HUMANITY
IN ACTION
Humanity has always
been at the very heart
of the Red Cross. From
its origin in 1863 right
up to the present day,
it has been connecting
human kindness with
human crisis all over the
world. And its dedicated
volunteers and supporters
are making sure that’s the
case long into the future.

ore than 150 years ago, Swiss be able to continue to support vulnerable

M businessman Henry Dunant

founded the Red Cross in
order to provide neutral and
impartial help to those sufering in times
of war. He made a promise that no one
people for many years to come.
Without the dedication of its volunteers,
the British Red Cross wouldn’t have the
resources to help those in need. Without the
generosity of its supporters, there would be
should ever have to sufer a crisis alone, no help to give. By leaving a gift in your will,
and that’s why to this day, the charity you can help transform the lives of people
is still there to help anyone in need. in crisis – whoever and wherever they are.
The British Red Cross is part of the Red
Cross Red Crescent Movement, made
up of 17 million volunteers across 191
countries. The charity responds to all kinds
of crises, from providing practical help
and emotional support to a family after
a house fire in the UK, to delivering food
and medical aid to those caught up in the
devastating conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
By leaving a gift in your will, you can
help make sure the British Red Cross is
ready as soon as an emergency strikes,
whether that’s an earthquake, a flood or
someone in the UK needing to get home
from hospital. What’s more, the kindness
of people like you ensures the charity will

To find out more about supporting the British

Red Cross with a gift in your will and for information
about the Free Will scheme call 0300 500 0401
or visit redcross.org.uk/freewill
 A doctor examines a young baby in
Bootle, September 1948, shortly after
the founding of the NHS. Providing free
healthcare at the point of service to an
entire nation proved to be a huge task

THE BIRTH PAINS

OF THE NHS
The creation of the National Health Service – 70 years
ago this month – is widely celebrated as a glorious
chapter in the history of modern Britain. But, argues
Mathew Thomson, a mixture of political inighting,
middle-class scepticism and a chronic inability to meet
demand meant that this was far from a smooth delivery
TOPFOTO

Accompanies the BBC’s NHS season

BBC History Magazine 37

The birth of the NHS
O
n 5 July, the National
Health Service will reach
its 70th anniversary. The
event will be marked in a
way that is extraordinary
for a state institution,
including ceremonies at
both Westminster Abbey and York Minster.
The NHS appears to have become, as former
chancellor Nigel Lawson put it, something
akin to a national religion. But this was a
national religion with a troubled birth.
By 1946, two years before the NHS came
kicking and screaming into the world, it had
become clear that Britain stood on the cusp
of a new era of state medicine. The
National Health Service Act
was pushed through parlia-
ment that year, spearheaded
by the Labour government’s
minister of health, Aneurin
Bevan. In fact, a radical move
in this direction had been
difficult to hold back since the
Beveridge Report of 1942 had
championed the foundation of
the welfare state, and a war on
the “giant evils” of want,
disease, ignorance, squalor and
idleness. There was a degree of
consensus on the need for
change and, in 1944, the
wartime coalition government
had brought that change ever closer with
a landmark white paper that proposed a
comprehensive and free health service.
But beneath the calm surface lurked
a considerable degree of suspicion and resis-
tance from wide swathes of the public, many
of whom baulked at the prospect of the loss of
traditional medical cultures – hospitals with
proud voluntary traditions and strong roots
in the local community – and the meddling
of an over-interventionist state. There were
also significant differences between the two
main political parties over what form the new
health service should take. Labour’s remark-
able victory in the general election of 1945
owed a lot to the feeling that it was the party
more likely to push forward plans for social
reform. But with the combative Bevan at
the helm, the medical profession proving an
obstacle, and the economic fallout from six
years of war putting severe constraints on the
public purse, it soon became clear that the
passage towards the National Health Service
For many Britons, the advent of the NHS
was confirmation of a meddling and
over-interventionist state
38
AB
BOVE: Aneurin Bevan, Labour’s minister for health, meets the first NHS patient,
Syylvia Beckingham, in Manchester in 1948. Bevan’s combative manner helped
tu
urn the NHS into a political battleground, as a 1948 poster (left) suggests
w
would have to navigate choppy
p
political waters.
This mix of optimism and
a
anxiety is evident in The
Gleam, a West End hit
written by Warren Chetham
Strode that opened at the
Globe Theatre in late 1946. The story begins
in 1946 on the eve of the introduction of the
National Health Service. Mr Cartwright, the
middle-class father of a family with a history
of working in medicine and a son now
entering the profession, is an enthusiast, who
sees the new service as a beacon of rationali-
sation and social progress. But when the story
leaps forward to an imagined future of 1949,
such hopes begin to emerge as naive. The
audience are introduced to a series of
shortcomings that could emerge under
a system of nationalised medical care.
In particular, we enter a world in which
doctors are no longer free to make decisions
on purely medical grounds, and find
themselves penned in by bureaucratic
regulation, corrupt officialdom and political
interference. As an increasingly miserable
character called Dr Boyd puts it: “I’m finding
it difficult to retain my own individuality as a
doctor… I’m becoming a cog in a none too
adequate medical machine.”
But even as the fictional Dr Boyd would
surely have conceded, creating this “medical
machine” was a massive challenge – one that
presented its founders with the huge task of
delivering a new health service free at the
point of delivery to a nation in the depths of
postwar austerity. That they largely achieved
this is truly remarkable.
Financial collapse
The transition from a disparate collection of
insurance schemes to an integrated national
health service was possible because – in the
case of the physical fabric of doctors’ surger-
ies, hospitals and public health clinics – the
NHS largely took over what was there already.
There were misgivings about the nationalisa-
tion of hospitals with strong local identities
and links to communities through charity,
but in many cases these hospitals were facing
financial collapse.
However, when something altogether new
was required – most notably a promised
network of health centres – the result was an
unmitigated failure. This was one of the most
visionary aspects of the plan for a national
health service, and the one that had exciting
prospects in addressing health and not just
illness. This had been proposed as early as
1920, and a couple of pioneering centres were
built between the wars. But a combination of
GP suspicion of the state and limited funds
BRIDGEMAN/ALAMY
meant that development after 1948 was slow.
Just 15 centres opened in the first 17 years of
the new service. As for the dilapidated
hospital system that the NHS inherited, it
included Victorian and former poor-law
BBC History Magazine
 In 1948, the British Medical Association canvassed its members about whether they wished to join the NHS. Here, in April that year, their votes
are counted. Though they gave the move their approval, many doctors were highly sceptical about this new chapter in Britain’s provision of health
GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY

A dentist treats a child at a new NHS health centre in London, 1952. Staff are taught anatomy in 1948. As patients flocked to the NHS,
Building a network of such centres proved a logistical nightmare nurses’ services would soon be in ever-greater demand

BBC History Magazine 39

The birth of the NHS

A REGIONAL
HEALTH CHECK
How the nascent NHS was received
in communities around Britain

NOTTINGHAM
In the wake of the NHS’s birth, the Nottingham
Journal noted the collapse of the area’s school
dental service as demand from the population
drained it of qualified staff. The paper also pointed
out that local authority services had long preceded
the NHS, and that it was “the long-term sum of
these services that has given us our great advances
in
i hhealth
lth”. B
By 1953,
1953 though,
th h the
th same paper
was reporting that the public had become more
understanding of minor irritants; there was
“less scepticism”. The NHS had, it seems, won
hearts and minds by delivering real benefits.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Across the county, there was evident pride at the
NHS’s ability to meet patient demand. The NHS
was now ““generallyl speaking,
i already
working
ki smoothly”,hl ” reported d the
h
Gloucester Citizen in 1949: double the
number of patients were already
signed up compared
p with the old
National Insurance panel system.
system
Meanwhile, the Gloucestershire
Echo ran a story about the
first ‘Bevan Baby’ born at
the Sunnyside Maternity
Home
Ho me in Ch
Chel
elte
el tenh
te nham
nh am.
am

Listening in: a doctor

uses a stethoscope to
examine a patient in 1948

40 BBC History Magazine

 EDINBURGH
n e ruary 1949, t e n urg unda

GETTY IMAGES/LONDON EVENING STANDARD

ost reporte on ee ess e s
S ecs’”. our mont s prev ous y, t s
12-year-old Edinburgh girl had broken
er s ectacles. Her mother had taken
er for an e e test under the NH
c eme an t e a cat on a een

ont s ater s e was st wa t ng, a

ff h l n h mi h r
m Her local MP and the cottish
cretar , the

Clear vision: a girl wearing NHS glasses, photographed

near Westbourne Grove in London, 1957

ESSEX
n ovem er 1948, t e ros ect ve
onservative candidate for helmsford
u ert s ton ma e waves n an sse
w m story ear ng t e ea ne
ational Health Service Costs Goin
U …U ” “Th r i m r th n
tendenc toda ,” warned Ashton, o

nservatives did support the new

c a serv ces, ut peop e nee e to
li th t th t f th n w rv
s oin to be very hi h, Ashton
ed, whereas “socialists would have

arc 1 4 reports
n t e state ta e over o at rov s on n
Britain, claimin that it will st £152m a yea

U EX
ussex certainl doesn’t appear to have been a hot
bed of enthusiasm for the NH , with some eo le
earin that the system was open to abuse. These
ears were stoked re orts in 1949 o n o t c an

the area, and the o tician had sent the order off
the manufacturer as a priorit case and had then
atched the spectacles to Italy. A meetin of the
Executive ouncil for East ussex was clearly

BB History 41
The birth of the NHS
A doctor immunises a girl
against diphtheria in July
1949. By now, the vast
majority of Britons had
voted with their feet and
signed up with the NHS
accommodation. Faced with the challenge of
rebuilding a Britain ravaged by wartime
bombing campaigns, the nation’s number one
priority was housing, not health.
Another herculean task facing the NHS’s
founders was winning the hearts and minds
of the British public, and persuading them to
register with the new service. Look in any
local paper across the month of June 1948 and
you’ll probably find a government exhorta-
tion to sign up, usually based around the
urgent, capitalised message: “CHOOSE
YOUR DOCTOR NOW.”
Endless stamp-licking
A large proportion of the population had
already in effect chosen their doctors. Since
1911, thousands of working-class men had
registered with a panel doctor under the
National Health Insurance scheme, and were
simply moved over to the NHS. They didn’t
have to sign up to anything. But their wives
and children did – as did the middle classes.
In fact, if one section of the population was
particularly sceptical of the promised merits
of a National Health Service, it was the middle
classes. This was the constituency that needed
42
Many patients used the NHS for free
medicine, while retaining private doctors.
In short, they worked the system
reassurance that Britons would still be able to
choose their own doctor – and that there
would be no disruption to existing doctor–
patient relationships. Unfortunately, this was
also the constituency most likely to be
exposed to the scaremongering coverage
published by newspapers such as The Sphere.
Here, the arrival of government publicity into
the sanctity of the private home was taken as a
sign of the end of times, a harbinger of endless
“stamp-licking and form-filling” in which
Britons would be “permanently enslaved”. It
was preferable, opined The Sphere, “to resign
oneself to the prospect of extinction”.
The general public evidently didn’t agree,
because the speed of people signing up was
spectacular. By the end of 1948, the vast
majority of the population had effectively
become NHS patients. Clearly, for most
British people the attraction of a free service
was enough to overcome any misgivings
about an overbearing state. When the social
research organisation Mass-Observation
looked into the issue in the first year of the
service, it found that even those who re-
mained ambivalent, and stayed with their
existing family doctors on a private basis,
invariably also signed up with an NHS-
registered doctor as a way to access free
medicines. They used the private doctor for
SCIENCE & SOCIETY PICTURE LIBRARY
diagnosis, and the NHS for free prescriptions.
In short, they worked the system.
And where middle-class patients did use an
NHS doctor, they widely expressed their relief
at discovering that the experience wasn’t so
very different. Some even expressed a sense of
guilt that they were now getting the service
free of charge when others might need it
more. Particularly attractive was the prospect
of free hospital care. As Mr Oakton, the house
BBC History Magazine
 ABOVE: A leaflet introduces Britons to their
new National Health Service
RIGHT: A patient is fitted with NHS spectacles
at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.
The growing waiting list for glasses became
a symbol of the system’s early travails
governor of Worthing Hospital, put it, the
middle classes in some ways had the most to
gain from the proposed change. Hospital care,
he argued, had always been “available free to
the necessitous poor and millionaires”. It was
the “black coated worker” who had often been
deterred or crippled by the cost.
The success of the government’s sign-up
drive had solved one problem, but it created
another: that of meeting public demand for
NHS prescriptions. This encompassed
everything from free medicine and elastic
stockings to trusses and surgical sundries.
(The local press was filled with advertising
from chemists reminding the public that they
could turn to the NHS doctor for such
prescriptions). But if there was one item that
came to symbolise the NHS’s inability to meet
exploding patient demand, it was glasses.
In the past, many people had continued
with an old prescription, used poor-quality
over-the-counter alternatives, or simply gone
without. Now they ordered their glasses from
the new service. Such was the clamour that, in
September 1948, the Arbroath Herald and
Advertiserr joked that the whole population
must be going blind.
The growing waiting lists for glasses soon
became something of a cause célèbre, and was
NATIONAL ARCHIVES/TOPFOTO
mirrored in parallel debates about access to
dental care. Having a national system made
all of this visible: the press dedicated count-
less column inches to debating the latest
figures on the escalating provision of glasses,
pharmaceuticals and medical appliances.
For some, the fact that this debate was
taking place at all was good news – a symbol
BBC History Magazine
that the new NHS was remedying previous
neglect. As one Cheltenham optician put it:
“One gets a certain amount of satisfaction
from the fact that many old-age pensioners
are today taking advantage of the scheme.
Their gratitude on securing their spectacles
does a lot to recompense one for the extra
work required to cope with the demand.”
But, for the NHS’s critics, the supply
‘scandal’ was an opportunity to question
whether free provision on such a scale was
really possible, and whether people could be
trusted not to abuse this new privilege.
The elusive staf
Then there was the problem of staffing the
new NHS. Winning over the medical
profession to cooperate with the new scheme
had been one of Bevan’s outstanding achieve-
ments. But coping with the extra demand
unleashed by a free service would be possible
only if the hospitals had the nurses and
auxiliary staff to provide the care. Here,
expansion came up against the problem that,
in order to support the new welfare state,
Britain also had to get manufacturing
production up to full capacity. This would
take time, so hospital wards remained
empty, without the staff to man them, and
waiting lists grew longer still. Soon the
government would look to immigration
for a partial solution.
From empty wards and shortages of reading
glasses to the middle-class panic over an
intrusive state, the NHS faced enormous
challenges in its early years. But, for all that, it
rapidly won support across the board. That’s
why, when the Conservative party returned to
power following the 1951 general election, it
concluded that the health service was far too
popular to abandon. The new service would
survive infancy.
But the scale of those challenges had raised
concerns over cost and efficiency – and it had
dampened expectations. (Labour acknowl-
edged as much when it introduced charges
for some dental treatments and glasses in
1951 – a trigger for Bevan’s resignation.) If the
Conservatives could persuade the electorate
that they weren’t an existential threat to the
service, they could capitalise on being seen
as better managers of limited resources.
By 1951, the birth pains of the NHS had not
so much been cured as accepted, through a
compromise over expectations from the main
political parties. The tensions this created
would haunt Britain’s brave new world of
health provision for years to come.
Mathew Thomson is a professor of history at the
University of Warwick. His books include Lost
Freedom: The Landscape of the Child and the British
Post-War Settlementt (OUP, 2013). He is part of a
team working on a cultural history of the NHS, in
conjunction with the Wellcome Trust. The team
contributed to the forthcoming People’s History of
the NHS (BBC Four)
DISCOVER MORE
TV AND RADIO
왘 The BBC is marking the 70th anniversary
of the NHS with a wide-ranging series of
programming across TV and radio in June
and July. For more details, turn to page 75
43
WWI eyewitness accounts

OUR FIRST WORLD WAR

Crashing to
Earth and a
case of the lu
In part 50 of his personal testimony series, Peter Hart reaches
July 1918. Even with the Germans faltering, battle-hardened Allied
ighters were gearing themselves for yet more conlict ahead
– or hoping to be sent home. Peter is tracing the experiences of
20 people who lived through the First World War – via interviews,
letters and diary entries – as its centenary progresses
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES ALBON

James McCudden
James qualified as a pilot in April 1916 and
shot down his first aircraft in September. In
June 1917 he was made a captain. Having
become the British ace with the highest tally of
victories, in March 1918 he was transferred
back to ‘Blighty’ for a tour as an instructor.
prime candidate to be first to
I am now in England reach this target, but he would
training the young, but take no chances. In his own
my heart is in France amongst words, there would be no
the gallant boys who are daily “dashing stunts” for him.
dying and those who are dead, At about 5.30pm McCudden,
having given themselves to that flying his brand-new SE5a,
most wonderful cause. found himself in hazy weather
over Auxi-le-Château airfield,
On 9 July, McCudden set out a mere five miles short of his
to fly back to the western front destination. Rather than risk
where, promoted to major, he landing behind German lines,
was to command 60 Squad- he decided to get directions at
ron, based at Boffles in France. the airfield. He made a neat
He had just completed his landing and, having got the
memoir, Five Years with the directions, quickly took off
Royal Flying Corps. In his
again, as described by
closing paragraphs he Lieutenant Louis Fenelon.
suggested that, if the war
continued much longer, “One
or two perhaps of the Allied
aviators will have exceeded a “As the echoes of the smash resounded
total of 100 enemy aeroplanes
shot down.” There is no doubt
around the airield, horriied ground crew
that he considered himself the and pilots ran to the scene”
The SE5a took off into the
wind and at about 100 feet
did a vertical turn and flew back
across the aerodrome by the side
of the wood. The engine
appeared to be running badly.
The pilot rolled the machine,
which failed to straighten out, at
approximately 200 feet. It crashed
nose-down into the wood.
Corporal WH Burdett, who had
known McCudden in 1915
when the future ace was a
mechanic, also saw the crash.
When McCudden took
off he put the machine
into a nearly vertical climb,
seemed to do a half-roll and then
nose-dived into the wood
behind the hangars. It was usual
for scout pilots to perform some
little stunt when leaving the
aerodrome, and I think that is
what he was doing.
As his aircraft fell, McCudden
switched off the engine to
reduce the risk of fire, and
undid his safety belt – doubt-
less remembering that his
brother had died strapped into
his aircraft when it crashed,
while his unstrapped passen-
ger had been thrown clear and
survived. As the echoes of the
smash resounded around the
airfield, horrified ground crew
and pilots ran to the scene.
They found the SE5a
scrunched into the trees on
the south-eastern edge of the
airfield. James McCudden had
been thrown out and was lying
beside one of the wings.
He was taken to a casualty
clearing station where it was
discovered he had a badly
fractured skull. He never
regained consciousness, and
died at 8pm. On examining the
engine, a senior accident
investigator found that an
obsolete air filter had been
fitted, which would have led
to the engine failing during
a steep, climbing turn. The
career of one of the greatest,
most-deadly British aces of
the war had been curtailed at
57 victories. He was just 23.

44 BBC History Magazine

 July 1918

George Horridge
Born into a wealthy textile-manufacturing
family in Lancashire in 1894, George was
commissioned as a territorial in the 1/5th
Lancashire Fusiliers in 1913. After serving in
Egypt and Turkey, in 1917 his regiment had
been dispatched to the western front.
In the summer of 1918, I heard him say to the officer in
Lieutenant George Horridge that bed: “It’s very hot in these
was still on the western front. wards – very uncomfortable – so
He escaped German bullets we’re putting up a marquee in
and shells but was brought low
the garden. Are you prepared to
by a terrible virus.
go into the marquee?” This chap
I caught [the Spanish] said: “Oh, yes – of course!”
flu when we were in The medical officer went
the front line on the Somme, down the ward and at one bed
with the usual flu symptoms after another asked the same
– headaches, a temperature, question. I presume he had to get
ALAMY /PICTURE CONSULTANT: EVERETT SHARP
Victims of the 1918–19
Spanish flu epidemic
being treated at a US Army
camp hospital in France.
Many sufferers died from
bacterial pneumonia,
a secondary infection
I’ll stop in the ward.” The
medical officer reiterated how
hot it was and all that. “No thank
you,” I repeated. He asked the
sister: “This officer been up yet?”
She replied: “No, he hasn’t.” He
said to me: “What service have
you got?” By this time I had over
four years’ service, I told him.
He got my hospital sheet,
which was pinned to a board,
wrote ‘D’ on it, and went out.
I thought to myself: “Well, there
you are, you stupid thing – you
wouldn’t go in the marquee, and
now you’ve got ‘D’ for duty!”
But the sister said: “That means
you’re a walking case for Eng-
land!” Now, if that doctor had
Harold Hayward
Born in 1897 in Alcester, Harold
signed up with the 12th Glouces-
tershire Regiment. He was
injured at the Somme in
September 1916 but returned to
the lines as an officer.
As second lieutenant, Harold
was serving with the 15th
Welsh (Carmarthenshire)
Regiment on the western
front. When they were out of
the line, young officers took
the chance to celebrate.
I put on about a four-
course meal [in the mess]
and people were licking their
lips. Everything was going quite
well. Then the grub finished and
the drinks came on. The band
come into the hut to play – but
all that they played was ‘bunny
hugging’. You had a partner and
as the music struck up you got
up and ‘bunny hugged’ up and
around all the evening between
drinks. Apparently, at about
midnight there were only two
wallflowers, myself being one
and the brigadier the other. I got
up, staggered across the room,
pulled him up and danced with
him for three hours. Then they
turned up with a stretcher and
carried me back to my tent.
Peter Hart is the oral historian

at the Imperial War Museum

lassitude. I was sent to Rouen
hospital. In my ward, the beds
were in two rows facing each
other, and I happened to be
in the end bed. I’d been there
two days, and still hadn’t
recovered sufficiently to get
up or walk about.
On this second day, a medical
officer came through the
doorway just to my left, then
turned to the bed to his left.
the agreement of officers, in case
anybody who was put into an
open marquee died of pneumo-
nia. By the time he got to the
other end, I began to think to
myself: “You’ve been in the army
long enough to know that it isn’t
very wise to do anything they
want you to do, if its only
voluntary.” So, when they got to
me, I said: “No, thank you – I
don’t want to go in the marquee.
turned right instead of left when
he came in the room, I should not
have had time to think. I should
have gone into the marquee, I
should have recovered from the
flu, and I would have been in the
final battles of the war! So that
was another bit of luck.
George Horridge was sent to
a hospital in England. Before
he could be sent back to the
front, the war ended.
DISCOVER MORE
WEBSITE
왘 You can read more articles
on the First World War at
BBC History Magazine’s
website: historyextra.com
TV AND RADIO
왘 The BBC’s First World War
coverage is continuing.
You can find regular TV
and radio updates
at historyextra.com

NEXT TIME: “We have a great many German wounded; one ‘baby’ Jerry is the pet of the place”
BBC History Magazine 45
The Nazis and the Bayeux Tapestry

46
 The art of war
Norman cavalry on the charge in
the Bayeux Tapestry, and (right)
Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS.
Himmler saw the tapestry as a
celebration of the “Germanic
tradition of great acts of war”,
and was determined to claim it
as an icon of Aryan history
GETTY IMAGES

47
The Nazis and the Bayeux Tapestry
O
n 1 August 1944, two SS
officers drove a pair of
trucks into the heart of
Nazi-occupied Paris, and
headed straight for the
Louvre. These men were
on a top-secret mission
– one assigned to them by Heinrich Himmler,
Reichsführer of the SS and one of the most
powerful men in the Third Reich.
Himmler had tasked the two men with
descending into the bowels of the world-
famous art museum, seizing the Bayeux
Tapestry and spiriting it away to a “safe place”
far from the grasp of the Allies’ rapidly
advancing armies.
After 15 years as the head of one of the most
feared paramilitary organisations in history,
Himmler was used to getting his own way. Yet
in this case he was to be disappointed. A few
days earlier, a group of local resistance fighters
– tipped off by the codebreakers of Bletchley
Park – had learned of the SS men’s mission
and rushed to the Louvre to protect the iconic
embroidery. Warned at the last minute that
any attempt to ‘liberate’ the tapestry would be
met with a hail of bullets, the SS officers gave
up on their mission.
The Nazi proclivity for buying, extorting
and confiscating Europe’s greatest artworks
is well documented. But there was more to
Himmler’s desire to seize the Bayeux Tapestry
than an acquisitive lust for one of France’s
foremost cultural treasures. In the celebrated
images of Norman knights putting Anglo-
Saxon footsoldiers to the sword he saw
evidence of medieval Germanic supremacy.
The Nazi fascination with the Bayeux
Tapestry can, perhaps, be traced back to 1 July
1935 when Himmler – along with fellow Nazi
ideologues Richard Walther Darré and
Herman Wirth – created Ahnenerbe, the
Society for the Study of Germanic Heritage.
Ahnenerbe was founded to promote
archaeological investigations of sites that
could be associated with early Germanic
settlement, and to study, in situ, works related
to the history of the Aryan race. It wasn’t long
before its leading lights had turned their
attention to the celebrated 11th-century
embroidery depicting the Norman conquest
of England in 1066.
The French had claimed the Bayeux
Tapestry as a national historical monument
since the early 1700s, but the Nazi regime had
an alternative theory. In July 1939, a memo
written by Franz Altheim, professor of
classical philology at Frankfurt University,
arrived on the desk of Wolfram Sievers,
Ahnenerbe’s general manager. It proposed
that a detailed examination of the Bayeux
Tapestry would prove that the Normans who
conquered England were, in reality, Vikings
48
– and, by extension, Germanic. The idea that
they were French, Altheim argued, was based
on a 200-year-old lie. At the bottom of his
note he wrote: “I emphasise the importance of
this study.”
In July 1939, when Altheim penned his
memo, the idea of a team of ardent Nazis
poring over one of the most iconic artefacts in
French history in an attempt to establish its
Germanic origins would have been anathema
to the people of France. But the fall of their
nation to German forces in June 1940
rendered their opinions all but irrelevant.
And so, in the aftermath of the French
surrender, Dr Herbert Jankuhn, professor of
Viking archaeology at Rostock University –
and a loyal Nazi – was appointed to head a
team of experts tasked with studying the
artefact in the northern French town of
Bayeux. Jankuhn offered a clue as to what he
hoped to achieve when declaring: “For general
Germanic studies, the Tapestry’s visual
representations, through the recording of
Germanic legends and traditions, provides a
very valuable source for this early period.”
Photographic evidence
Jankuhn’s first task as leader of Special
Assignment Bayeux was to study the hanging,
and gather information so that further studies
could be carried out by research scholars after
the embroidery had been moved to safe
wartime storage. The ultimate aim was to
produce a multi-volume publication of their
findings, featuring a photographic replica of
the tapestry. By examining representations of
everything from boats and weapons to
costumes, they would provide irrefutable
scientific evidence that the tapestry was a
testament to Germanic hegemony in early
medieval Europe.
Jankuhn couldn’t complete such
a weighty undertaking alone. He was
accompanied by Dr Karl Schlabow, textile
expert and head of the Germanic Costume
Museum in Neumünster, whose job it was
to scrutinise the fabric and take careful
measurements. Rolf Alber, photographer and
war reporter, was to shoot new images of the
tapestry, in both black-and-white and colour.
Herbert Jeschke, an artist from Berlin, was
the only member of the Bayeux team who
wasn’t a member of the Nazi party or the SS. ABOVE AND RIGHT: Two of Herbert
Jeschke’s sketches of details of the
His task was to create a series of accurate,
Bayeux Tapestry – one showing a
full-size drawings and watercolours of mythological ant-eating serpent from
details from the Bayeux Tapestry, under the upper border of the tapestry, the
Jankuhn’s guidance. other a Norman knight, possibly
First, though, they had to gain access to the William the Conqueror himself
embroidery – and that would prove surpris-
ingly problematic. In September 1939, with
RIGHT (MAIN PIC): Heinrich Himmler
war clouds gathering, the French authorities presents Hitler with a painting as a
had rolled it up on a bobbin, placed it in birthday gift. Himmler created the Nazi
a padded, zinc-lined wooden case and organisation that studied the tapestry
BBC History Magazine
 The idea that
the Normans
were French, not
Germanic, argued
Altheim, was a
200-year-old lie
deposited it in a concrete bunker in the
basement of Bayeux’s Hôtel du Doyen.
Since the fall of France, German officers
had peppered Bayeux’s authorities with
requests to see the tapestry – a process that
meant repeatedly manhandling the fragile,
FROM L TO R: Berlin artist Herbert 900-year-old artefact. The French were
Jeschke, Herbert Jankuhn (head of reluctant to allow this to continue and, in a
Special Assignment Bayeux) and classic delaying tactic, began insisting that all
textile expert Dr Karl Schlabow permissions to view the tapestry be signed by
examine the tapestry in Bayeux
in the summer of 1941 the proper authorities in Paris. As a result,
following their arrival in Bayeux on 8 June
1941, Jankuhn and his team would have to
wait days before beginning their work.
At first, they examined the embroidery in
the Hôtel du Doyen’s Bishops’ Gallery – but
this entailed unrolling and rolling the
tapestry every day. So, on 23 June, it was
moved in a truck – accompanied by Rene
Falue (the tapestry’s official guardian), three
French customs officials and a lone German
policeman – to the Monastery of St Martin at
ROLF ALBER-JESCHKE FAMILY COLLECTION/HERBERT JESCHKE-KESCHKE FAMILY COLLECTION/TOPFOTO

Mondaye, five miles south of Bayeux, where

a large section could be left unrolled.

Summoned to ight
i
Working seven days a week, Jankuhn’s team
set about studying, drawing and photograph-
ing all 70 metres of the embroidery. They hit
a stumbling block on 29 June, when Alber
returned to military service. A replacement
photographer, Ursula Uhland, was sum-
moned but, because women weren’t allowed
in the monastery’s cloister, the tapestry had to
be transported to its public gallery.
Despite this setback, Jeschke had completed
his sketches by the end of July, and the
project’s last week was taken up with Uhland’s
work and with shooting propaganda films
for Wochenschau, a newsreel series released
in the cinemas.
On 1 August, the tapestry was returned to
its concrete bunker in Bayeux. A few days
later it was moved again – to the Château de
Sourches, some 100 miles south of Bayeux,
where it joined treasures from the Louvre.
The first stage of Special Assignment
Bayeux may have come to an end, but the
Nazi obsession with the Bayeux Tapestry was

BBC History
y Magazine
g 49
Nazis and the Bayeux Tapestry
showing no signs of abating. Dr Hermann
Bunjes, head of the German Art Historical
Institute in Paris, now became the project’s
guiding spirit, assembling a group of
academics to bring the multi-volume book
on the artefact to fruition.
They set about comparing Jeschke’s
drawings with Germanic and Viking artefacts
in museums, and considered the photographs
taken by Uhland and Alber. They envisaged
a book that would present essays on the past
scholarship of the embroidery, its physical
details, its historical authority, its significance
for the history of culture. The book would also
contain a study of the fabric and embroidery,
and an analysis of its material and colour.
One study ‘proved’ the early Germanic
origin of the wooden houses depicted;
another emphasised the similarity of English
and Norman boats to Viking vessels.
All of this was undertaken with one
overriding ambition: to prove that the
Normans were still true, untainted Vikings –
representatives of the pure Nordic Aryan race.
Herbert Jankuhn had little doubt that
Special Assignment Bayeux had achieved just
that. “The Bayeux Tapestry is not only a king’s
saga of purely Germanic imprint, but also
constitutes the documentary justification of
William’s claim to England,” he declared in
December 1942. “His actions appear to us…
as the execution of his given right and the
punishment of unforgiveable perjury and
unfaithfulness according to the Germanic
viewpoint. The tapestry not only exudes
genuine Germanic joy in the tradition of
heroic deeds, but also the statesmanlike desire
to justify the campaign in England as a legal
operation and political necessity.”
Propaganda magazines agreed wholeheart-
edly, running articles that eulogised the
tapestry’s celebration of “the joy of the
Germanic tradition of great acts of war”.
In short, Special Assignment Bayeux was to
reclaim the tapestry as a perfect fit with Nazi
pan-Germanic ideology, since it bore witness
to the early unification of the Germanic
cultures of Scandinavia, Normandy and
England. It would also serve as a precedent
for the Nazis’ desire to recreate Germania,
a homeland for all Germanic peoples.
Glorious warfare
This sentiment would certainly have struck
a chord with Heinrich Himmler, who was
fascinated by the Bayeux Tapestry’s imagery
of medieval knights and glorious warfare.
Over Christmas 1942, the head of the SS was
presented with a bound volume of photos and
drawings of the embroidery – a gift that
delighted him so much that he sent a thank-
you note to Wolfram Sievers in which he
noted “the significance that this Bayeux
50
Herbert Jankuhn presents a section of the Bayeux Tapestry to German officers. His studies of
the embroidery led him to the conclusion that it was a “king’s saga of purely Germanic imprint”
Himmler was
obsessed with the
Teutonic knights
and wanted to
recreate the
Knights of the
Round Table
Tapestry has for our glorious and culturally
rich German history”.
The Allied invasion of western Europe on
6 June 1944 merely sharpened Himmler’s
desire to secure the tapestry for the Third
Reich. His fear that it would fall into enemy
hands became apparent on 27 June, when the
Gestapo moved the embroidery – without
notice and despite local French protest – from
Sourches to the basement of the Louvre. This
would be followed, little more than a month
later, by the two SS officers’ attempt to spirit
the embroidery away to a “safe place”, only to
be thwarted by fast-acting resistance fighters.
What had been Himmler’s intentions when
he ordered the tapestry moved from Paris?
What would he have considered a “safe place”
in June 1944? One possibility is Wewelsburg
Castle in central Germany, which had been
chosen by Himmler as the location for his
training centre, the home of the cult of the SS
– a place where officers were taught how to
recreate the lost world of the ‘Nordic race’.
Obsessed with the idea that the SS was
a revival of the medieval Teutonic knights,
Himmler imagined the castle as the home of
modern Nazi Knights of the Round Table. The
crypt, designed to hold the ashes of SS leaders,
was named Valhalla. Himmler installed his
own collection of ancient and medieval
weapons in the castle, and indicated he wanted
tapestries hung on the walls. This would have
been an apt location for the Bayeux Tapestry,
which he considered a great testament to an
earlier Germanic-Nordic-Aryan triumph.
If Wewelsburg Castle was a safe place in
June 1944, it certainly didn’t remain so. On
31 March 1945, with US forces closing in,
Himmler ordered the castle dynamited, along
with its contents.
Fortunately, the Allies had already found
the Bayeux Tapestry safe in its temporary
home in the basement of the Louvre. On
2 March 1945, after going on display in an
exhibition in the art museum, it was returned
to Bayeux. And there it has remained since.
Were the Nazis wrong to attempt to divine
a Viking presence in the Bayeux Tapestry?
No. It has long been accepted that the
Scandinavian influence on both English and
Norman societies was significant – seen, for
example, in ships, ship-building tools and
some decorative elements. This influence can
be traced back to the Viking occupation of
vast swathes of England (the so-called
Danelaw), and the ceding of what became
Normandy to the Vikings in 911.
All three groups – English, Normans and
Scandinavians – may be considered, to some
extent, Germanic. But surely Ahnenerbe
would have had finally to admit that, even if
the Normans weree still Vikings in 1066, they
were French-speaking ones.
ROLF ALBER-JESCHKE FAMILY COLLECTION
Shirley Ann Brown is professor emerita of art
history at York University, Toronto, a member of
the Bayeux Tapestry Advisory Committee, and
author of The Bayeux Tapestry: A Sourcebook
DISCOVER MORE
BOOK
왘 The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story
of a Masterpiece by Carola Hicks
(Chatto & Windus, 2006)
BBC History Magazine
 THE HISTORY ESSAY

Vera Brittain, pictured in 1918 while serving as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. Her fulminations against “shirkers”
who didn’t answer the call to fight in 1914 are strikingly absent from her celebrated pacifist memoir Testament of Youth

LOVE, LOSS AND

DISTORTED MEMORIES
We’ve allowed memoirs to shape our perception of the First World War
without paying due attention to their drawbacks for the historian
By Mark Bostridge
GETTY IMAGES

BBC History Magazine 51

Great War memoirs
THE HISTORY ESSAY
I
n the early weeks of the First World War, a young woman in an Eng-
lish provincial town happened to bump into a man whose proposal
of marriage she had rejected in no uncertain terms the previous year.
In her diary she recorded her strong disapproval of him for not hav-
ing responded immediately to the call of duty by enlisting in the army.
The language she used to describe him was reminiscent of the ‘White
Feather Brigade’, the band of women across Britain who had recently
begun a campaign to humiliate men perceived as ‘idlers and loafers’
into enlisting. White feathers were being distributed to any man who
appeared to fit the description ‘selfish shirker’. The woman meeting
her former suitor didn’t go so far as to present him with a white feath-
er, but in her diary she recorded “his obvious strength and suitability
for military work”, and branded him a “shirker”.
Not long before, this same woman had shown her younger brother
an appeal in the newspapers for unmarried men between the ages of
18 and 30 to join the army. Her brother had immediately become
enthusiastic about volunteering, and had set about trying to offer
himself as a recruit. His sister’s eagerness to support his desire to en-
list was matched only by their father’s obduracy in opposing the plan.
As the brother was 18 and under military age, he needed his father’s
consent before his application could be accepted by the War Office;
this his father at first withheld, much to his sister’s fury. In her diary
she fulminated against her father, reproaching him for his “unman-
liness” and for not possessing the “requisite courage”.
Her younger brother did eventually obtain their father’s permis-
sion, and was gazetted as a second lieutenant in a battalion of the
Sherwood Foresters. Two years later, he showed great courage in ac-
tion on one of the most terrible days of slaughter in the history of the
British Army, the first day of the battle of the Somme. He was later
awarded the Military Cross for his “conspicuous gallantry and lead-
ership” during an attack on Mouquet Farm near Thiepval. For his
sister, by now serving as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse, there
was understandable pride in her brother’s heroism, but also a belief
that the Somme offensive had opened “very successfully”, and a con-
viction that 1 July 1916 was “one of the greatest dates in history”.
None of these scenarios is unusual. Indeed, eaach h off th
them iis strong-
t Originally
ly representative of its time and place. The brother,
b Edward, was
killed in the final months of the war during th he British rout of the
Austrian offensive on the Asiago Plateau in n northern Italy in
June 1918. His sister, Vera Brittain, went on to become a lead-
ing writer of the interwar years, as well as a caampaigning
feminist and latterly a major pacifist figure duriing the Sec-
ond World War. Her name will immediately strrike a chord
as the chronicler of the so-called lost generationn in her most
famous book, Testament of Youth, a memoir of her war
52
experiences and of the cataclysmic impact of the Great War on her
own life and the lives of her closest male friends.
However, what may come as a surprise to the many readers of Tes-
tament of Youth is that the first two of the incidents I’ve described
above are completely absent from the book, while the third, her reac-
tion to Edward Brittain’s part in the battle of the Somme, has been
extensively rewritten from her contemporary accounts in diaries and
letters, and overlaid with sentiments much more in keeping with the
antiwar views that Vera Brittain had held since 1918.
W
riting her autobiography 15 to 20 years
after the events it described, Vera Brittain
was evidently reluctant to probe too
deeply her younger self’s susceptibility to
what the mature Brittain described as
“the glamour of war”, the patriotic ex-
citement (verging at times on jingoistic
fervour) that she exhibited in 1914, or her absolute conviction of the
need to defeat German militarism. Instead she constructed a narra-
tive in which her predominant themes are disillusionment with war
and a firmly held belief of the conflict’s futility.
None of this is to deny the lasting power of Testament of Youth as a
great work of literature, nor even to suggest that the book doesn’t
have a significant contribution to make to our understanding of the
First World War. It remains arguably the greatest work of love, loss
and remembrance to emerge from the war. As Brittain’s closest
friend, the writer Winifred Holtby, recognised – in a description that
is as true today as it was when she wrote it 85 years ago – “Others have
borne witness to the wastage, the pity and the heroism of modern
war; none has yet so convincingly conveyed its grief.”
O i i ll published
bli h d in 1933, at the tail-end of the boom in war
literature, Testament of Y Youth quickly became a bestseller on both
sides of the Atlantic. Thee book tells of Brittain’s struggle to win an
education for herselff at Oxford University, of her growing love
for her brother Eddward’s school friend Roland Leighton, and
of her decision to
o postpone her university education to enrol
as a VAD nurse.. She served in hospitals in London, Malta
and close to thee frontline in France. Following the armi-
ALAMY
stice, she return
ned to Oxford. But she went up without the
company of her male contemporaries, because by that
Robert Grave
es argued that, while
his memoirs contained serious
inaccura
acies, they presented the
emotional truth of the war
BBC History Magazine
 THE HISTORY ESSAY

Vera Brittain was evidently reluctant to probe too deeply

her younger self’s susceptibility to what the mature
Brittain described as “the glamour of war”

British troops at the battle of the Somme in 1916. Second only to poetry, autobiographies have done most to influence
the way that the First World War is taught in our schools, written about in books and portrayed in cinemas, says Mark Bostridge

time all of them– fiancé Roland, brother Edward and two close
friends, Victor and Geoffrey – had been killed in the war.
Triumphantly republished by Virago 40 years ago in 1978, the
book became a bestseller again when the BBC adapted it the follow-
ing year for television. In 2015, Testament of Youth topped the best-
seller charts once more on the release of the feature-film adaptation
starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington. A century on from the
armistice that finally silenced the guns, Testament of Youth is the
most widely read British autobiography of the First World War, iron-
ically probably more familiar to readers today than the famous male
memoirs by Graves, Sassoon and Blunden that inspired it.
The canonical autobiographies of the war, such as Robert Graves’s
Goodbye to All That, Siegfried Sassoon’s trilogy beginning with
Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, and Edmund Blunden’s Undertones
of War – as well as Brittain’s book, the best-known by a woman – have
done much to shape later generations’ perceptions of the First World
War. Second only to the poetry produced in the years 1914–18, these
memoirs have decisively influenced the way the First World War is
taught in schools and universities, portrayed on television and in cin-
ema, and written about in modern fiction and non-fiction. This has
ALAMY
thrown up by the war. As we approach the end of the centenary peri-
od of 1914–18, it’s worth considering the strengths and limitations of
these books, and what they have to tell us about larger questions of
memory and detachment in relation to remembrance of the war.
The first and most obvious proviso to make about any autobio-
graphical piece of writing is that it is inherently subjective. The sec-
ond is that, as a literary form, autobiography is a hybrid: it combines
elements of fact with fiction in order to create a continuous, flowing
narrative. What is more, autobiography, as the critic Candace Lang
has observed, is everywhere one cares to find it. For example, many of
the novels produced in the aftermath of the war are so closely based
on the writers’ experiences that they can almost be legitimately re-
garded as memoirs. A clear case of this is Frederic Manning’s The
Middle Parts of Fortune, published in 1929 (better known in its ex-
purgated version, Her Privates We). Manning’s prefatory note makes
his autobiographical intent transparent. His book was “a record of
experience on the Somme and on the Ancre fronts… and the events
described in it actually happened”.
Sassoon had it both ways, and his Memoirs of George Sherston are
an illustration of the complex relationship between autobiography

been for good and bad – bad not least because they are hardly repre- and fiction. The publisher initially described Memoirs as fiction with
sentative of the enormous variety of autobiographical writing a difference: “The author… has himself lived the life of his hero.” But

BBC History Magazine 53

Great War memoirs

THE HISTORY ESSAY

FIRST WORLD WAR DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Edward Brittain, Roland Leighton and Victor Richardson – Vera Brittain’s brother, fiancé and friend respectively – pictured in
the summer of 1914. It was the deaths of these young men that made Testament of Youth so enduringly affecting

54 BBC History Magazine

 THE HISTORY ESSAY
The philosopher Walter Benjamin once wrote that “what was
widespread 10 years later in the lood of war books had nothing
to do with any experience”
Sherston, the trilogy’s protagonist, is not Sassoon. For a start, he is
not a poet. Yet his wartime exploits often reflect Sassoon’s – increas-
ingly so as the trilogy reaches its close, where Sassoon’s own war dia-
ry is reproduced without being transmuted into fiction.
Meanwhile, both Graves and Brittain produced fictional versions
of their war experiences before settling on autobiography to tell their
stories. Graves destroyed his war novel, but one page survived to be
inserted unrevised into Goodbye to All That – or, as Graves put it,
without having to “re-translate it into history”.
Goodbye to All That was written hurriedly in 11 weeks, largely as a
money-making enterprise. Its tall stories are among the book’s most
enjoyable features. For instance, Graves tells us that machine-gun
crews often fired off several belts without pause to heat the water in
the cooling-jacket for making tea. This rather assumes that they pre-
ferred their tea laced with oil! However, in the face of criticism by
Sassoon and Blunden of more serious inaccuracies in Goodbye to All
That – they unkindly dubbed it “Mummy’s Bedtime Story Book” –
Graves made a passionate defence of the book as the emotional truth
about his war. He argued that the memoirs of any man who had
experienced trench warfare weren’t truthful if they didn’t contain
“a high proportion of falsities”. The “old trench-mind”, he wrote, “is
at work in all overestimation of casualties… mixing of dates and
confusion between trench rumours and scenes actually witnessed”.
S
assoon’s own ruminations about the memoirs of the
First World War come close to confirming one over-
riding truth that applies to most of them: what these
books have in common is that the writers are looking
back cathartically to a fundamentally altered self –
irreparably changed, often even damaged, by the war.
But the conundrum for Sassoon, as it is for the other
memoirists, is that there is an “essential disparity” between ‘“being
alive [,] and memorialising it long afterwards”. The German philoso-
pher Walter Benjamin once wrote that the survivors of the First
World War returned not enriched “but impoverished in communi-
cable experience”, and that “what was widespread 10 years later in the
flood of war books had nothing to do with any experience”.
Sassoon took a more optimistic view of the task. He believed it was
possible, long afterwards, to describe aspects of an individual’s expe-
rience of the war while at the same time acknowledging that some
elements of it would be lost or changed. He saw “the living present” as
a “jigsaw puzzle loose in its box”. Eventually it would be possible to fit
the pieces together “and make a coherent picture of them”, but only
when they’d become “static and solidly discernible”.
Edmund Blunden was less sanguine about the desirability of do-
ing this. In a sense, nothing could evoke the confusion of what the
combatants of 1914–18 had been through other than a narrative that
acknowledged the impossibility of attempting to convey the experi-
ence to its readers. In his description of the area around Ypres, where
he had been stationed in 1917, Blunden declared that “a peculiar
Next month’s essay: Jonathan Healey on what really caused the Civil War
BBC History Magazine
difficulty would exist for the artist to select the sights, faces, words,
incidents which characterised the time. The art is rather to collect
them, in their original form of incoherence.”
By contrast, Vera Brittain asserted the superiority of the women
memoirist over her male counterparts by arguing that “a woman
who worked with the armies can give a wider and more truthful pic-
ture of the war as a whole than the active-service man whose knowl-
edge was confined to a small corner of the front”. To buttress this
claim, she carefully researched the background to the war in histori-
cal records such as the collections of the British Red Cross and Impe-
rial War Museum. She also employed a patchwork of quotations
from her diary and wartime correspondence. Nevertheless, she was
fearful of “numerous inaccuracies through queer tricks of memory”.
For her highly inaccurate account of the Étaples mutiny (of British
empire troops in France), which had occurred in September 1917
while she was serving at the camp as a nurse, she was forced to rely on
little more than the memory of an ex-soldier and friend of Winifred
Holtby, who had had no direct involvement in the events either.
Brittain’s account of the period she spent as a VAD nurse at Étaples
does not possess the reliability of chronology of earlier chapters of
Testament of Youth. In part this is because she had ceased to keep
a diary after returning from Malta in 1917, and had to depend on
a few letters and rushed notes along with a sometimes hazy recollec-
tion of events some 15 years after they had taken place. Most tellingly,
though, her description of nursing German prisoners of war high-
lights something more significant: the extent to which Testament of
Youth is coloured by the spirit of internationalism and pacifism that
Vera Brittain developed only in the years after the First World War.
Contrary to Brittain’s narrative of German prisoners dying in vast
numbers at Étaples, the official records for the hospital in the Na-
tional Archives show a very low mortality rate – as low as 2 per cent
– for the prisoner-patients during the time Brittain nursed there. Her
chilling picture of the plight of her German patients is therefore
largely fictional, but fits with the over-arching antiwar, war disillu-
sionment theme of Testament of Youth.
It may be a truism that time erodes memory and alters perspective,
but it’s one that cannot be overstated when considering the autobiog-
raphies and memoirs of the First World War.
Mark Bostridge is an award-winning author whose books include
Vera Brittain and the First World War (Bloomsbury, 2014)
DISCOVER MORE
BOOKS
왘 Testament of Youth: The Centenary Edition by
Vera Brittain (introduction by Mark Bostridge, preface
by Shirley Williams) is published in June by Virago
RADIO
왘 For more on the First World War, tune in to the
BBC Radio 4 series Home Front, from June
55
Anne of Denmark

Anne of Denmark
shown in riding garb
in a 1617 painting by
Flemish artist
Paul van Somer. Her
marriage to James VI
and I was often troubled

58 BBC History Magazine

 KILLER
QUEEN?
Anne of Denmark was wed as a teenager to
the iercely Protestant James VI (and later I), but
had strong Catholic sympathies. As the state
of her marriage deteriorated, Tracy Borman
asks, could Anne have been a “great patron”
behind the gunpowder plot?

A rosary and Bible. It was

BRIDGEMAN

rumoured that Anne had

secretly converted to
Catholicism before James
ascended the English throne
BBC History Magazine 59
Anne of Denmark

I
n July 1603, not long after his arrival in
London, King James VI and I dis-
patched the spy and adventurer Sir
Anthony Standen to Italy so that he
might spread the news of James’s
accession to the English throne. What
should have been a straightforward
mission backfired spectacularly. During
Standen’s meeting at the Vatican, Pope
Clement VIII gave him a rosary and asked
him to present it to the new king’s wife,
Anne of Denmark.
Anne’s Catholic sympathies had already
stirred up trouble during her years in
Scotland. Although she outwardly conformed
to her husband’s reformism, it was rumoured
that she had secretly converted to Catholicism
several years before James ascended the
English throne. When Standen presented
Anne with the pope’s gift, the king flew into
a rage and ordered his envoy to the Tower.
The queen pretended indifference, but
privately worked for Standen’s release.
The controversy eventually died down, and
Anne resumed her outwardly conformist
behaviour. But she had certainly not relin-
quished her Catholic beliefs. They would
become her chief source of comfort during
the turbulent years of her husband’s reign in
England, during which her relationship with An image by engraver Francis Delaram celebrating the 1589 wedding of James VI and
James steadily deteriorated. They also gave Anne of Denmark. Though the royal couple’s marriage seems initially to have been
her a sympathy with her husband’s increas- relatively happy, they eventually came to lead separate lives
ingly discontented Catholic subjects – one
that may have led her to support one of the James eventually settled the matter himself. cracks began to appear in the new marriage.
most shocking terror plots in British history. According to a contemporary account, he Although she gave the appearance of a dutiful
took the portraits of both candidates into his consort, Anne was ambitious for power, and
No dumb blonde bedchamber to pray and meditate for three soon began meddling in the turbulent world
Anne of Denmark is not one of our most days. When at last he emerged, he declared his of Scottish politics. She also fell prey to the
famous queen consorts. Traditionally, she choice: Anne. The decision had probably not charms of the maverick Earl of Bothwell, who
has been either overlooked by historians or been too difficult for the 23-year-old king, posed a serious threat to her husband’s
dismissed – by unnamed sources – as because Catherine was seven years his senior, regime. Although Anne had conceived during
“anonymous”, “an uninteresting woman” whereas Anne was just 14 and already the early weeks of her marriage, she suffered
lacking in intellect and influence. She has renowned for her beauty. Although she had a miscarriage in September 1590, and it would
even been described as a “dumb blonde” who never met the king of Scots, she was also said be three years before she was pregnant again.
failed to captivate her more intelligent and to be so much “in love with him that it were Anne gave birth to the longed-for prince,
cultured husband. More recent scholarship death to her to have it broken off”. Henry, in February 1594. James was delighted
has proved such claims to be erroneous. Anne A proxy marriage took place in Denmark with his wife, but their relations soon soured
was culturally more sophisticated than James, in August 1589, and the couple finally met when he insisted that the boy be raised in
and she was an active patron of music, art and three months later. Anne was taken aback a separate household at Stirling, just as he
architecture in both Scotland and England. when her betrothed kissed her full on the himself had been. The queen complained
Neither can she be blamed for failing to hold mouth “after the Scottish fashion”, but soon bitterly at being parted from her infant son,
her husband’s attention: James’s preference recovered and they were married in person on but it no avail. The rift in their marriage this
for his male favourites is well attested. 23 November. There followed several months opened up would never be healed.
Anne was the second daughter of of merrymaking, during which the newly- Nevertheless, Anne conceived regularly
Frederick II, king of Denmark and Norway, weds gave every appearance of being delight- during the years that followed, giving birth to
and his wife Sophia, daughter of the Duke of ed with each other. Elizabeth in August 1596 and Charles (the
Mecklenburg. The idea of marrying her to The couple returned to Scotland in May future Charles I) in November 1600.
James, then king of Scots, was first mooted in 1590. Anne was something of a novelty to her Tragically, the couple lost four children in
the early 1580s when Anne was just a child. new subjects, who had not had a resident infancy, and the queen also suffered a number
GETTY IMAGES

But negotiations foundered, partly because queen since the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots of other miscarriages.
England’s queen Elizabeth I favoured a match had fled to England more than 20 years After her husband inherited the English
between James and Catherine de Bourbon, before, and they welcomed her with great throne in March 1603, Anne travelled to
sister to the future Henry IV of France. rejoicing. However, it was not long before Stirling so that she could take custody of

60 BBC History Magazine

 Stirling Castle.
Relations between
Anne and James
soured when the king
insisted their son be
taken to live here
her firstborn son and take him with her to
England. This angered her husband, but Anne
ignored his protests. In June, she set out for
London with Henry and his younger sister,
Elizabeth, never to return to Scotland.
Anne was crowned with her husband in
Westminster Abbey on 25 July 1603. Although
the ceremony signalled the triumph of the
Stuart dynasty, the queen’s refusal to take the
Anglican communion fuelled rumours that
she was a closet Catholic. It also renewed
tensions with her husband.
Increasingly, the royal couple lived separate
lives at court, and the gossips there noted that
they did not converse together. “He was ever
best, when furthest from the queen,”
remarked the courtier Sir Anthony Weldon.
James had long been rumoured to be a
homosexual, and throughout his reign – both
in Scotland and in England – he surrounded
himself with a succession of beautiful young
men. He made no effort to hide these from his
wife, who was forced to suffer the humiliation
of seeing them paraded in front of the court.
James’s licentious behaviour was mirrored
by the court that he established in England,
which provided a sharp – and shocking –
contrast to that of his predecessor, the ‘Virgin
Queen’. It was also at odds with his uncom-
promisingly Protestant faith and his determi-
nation to rid his kingdom of Catholicism in
any form. Soon there was a growing body
of enemies to the Stuart regime.
The most deadly was a group of “Catholic
GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY
gentlemen” led by Robert Catesby, who hailed
from a family of prominent recusants and who
had joined the Earl of Essex’s ill-fated rebellion
against Elizabeth I. He and his fellow con-
spirators hatched a shocking and audacious
plan to blow up the House of Lords with
BBC History Magazine
“a great quantity of gunpowder” during the
state opening of parliament on 5 November
1605. This was to be the prelude to a popular
revolt in the Midlands, during which James’s
nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, would be
installed as the Catholic head of state.
It was only thanks to an anonymous letter
to the authorities, received in late October,
Although she gave
the appearance
of a dutiful consort,
Anne was ambitious
for power and
meddled in politics
Robert Cecil, King James’s secretary of
state. Did he sponsor the gunpowder plot?
that the king and his Protestant regime were
not wiped out. When the House of Lords was
searched at around midnight on 4 November,
just hours before the plot was due to be
executed, a huge cache of gunpowder was
discovered in a vault – more than enough to
reduce the entire building to rubble.
Disaster averted
News of the discovery sent shockwaves across
the kingdom. “The plot was to have blown up
the King at such time as he should have been
set on his royal throne, accompanied with all
his children, nobility, and commoners, and
assisted with all bishops, judges, and doctors,”
reported the MP Sir Edward Hoby, “at one
instant and blast to have ruined the whole
state and kingdom of England.”
All of the conspirators were eventually
rounded up, and those not killed in their
attempts to flee faced the terrifying prospect
of a traitor’s death. The men had hinted that
some “great patron” had privately supported
the plot, but even under torture they refused
to give a name. This has sparked intense
speculation ever since. A popular theory is
that the king’s secretary of state, Robert Cecil,
had secretly sponsored the plot as a means of
whipping up fear and hatred of Catholics.
But another potential candidate has been
largely overlooked: Queen Anne herself.
Driven by years of emotional abuse by her
husband, did she see the plot as the means to
rid herself, and the kingdom, of her tyranni-
cal and immoral husband? She was closely
aligned to the gunpowder plotters in ideology
and beliefs: her Catholic sympathies had
grown stronger since her arrival in England.
In the months leading up to the plot’s
discovery, Anne had gathered about her
61
Anne of Denmark
An illustration showing the execution of the Jesuit priest Henry Garnet for complicity in the gunpowder plot.
Garnet was part of a tightly knit Catholic underworld with possible connections to Anne of Denmark
an enclave of intimate Roman Catholic
bedchamber attendants. Among their
number was Jane Drummond, later Countess
of Roxburghe, who facilitated the queen’s
private Catholic worship. This included
smuggling priests into court and disguising
them as her personal attendants. The Spanish
ambassador reported that “Mass was being
said by a Scottish priest, who was simply
called a ‘servant’ of [the queen’s] lady-in-
waiting, Lady Drummond.”
Behind the scenes
If Anne was capable of such subterfuge
in order to satisfy her spiritual needs, it is
at least possible that she was able to provide
clandestine support to Catesby and his fellow
plotters. Her priests would have been the
perfect intermediaries. The Catholic under-
world in Jacobean England was tightly knit,
and priests supplied more than just spiritual
fulfilment. Many of them had an extensive
network of contacts among the gentry and
nobility, and could be relied upon for their
discretion. Father Henry Garnet is one
notable example. He was closely connected
with the gunpowder plotters and, though
he privately disapproved of their schemes, he
was later executed for complicity.
But though Anne had ample motivation to
rid herself and the kingdom of her depraved
husband, could she really have countenanced
the murder of her two sons? Both Henry and
Charles had been due to attend the opening of
parliament – a fact of which the gunpowder
plotters were well aware. Indeed, it fitted their
scheme perfectly because their aim was to
62
Anne had ample
motivation to rid
herself and the
kingdom of her
depraved and
licentious husband
place Princess Elizabeth on the throne as
a puppet queen whom they could marry to
a Catholic suitor.
Anne would certainly have supported the
notion of female sovereignty, particularly if
it led to the re-establishment of Catholicism
in England. In addition, her son Henry was
becoming even more of a religious reformist
than his father, which must have grieved his
mother sorely. Whether her faith was stronger
than her maternal bonds must rest with
conjecture. What is certain is the strength of
Anne’s convictions. She once asserted that
“honour goes before life”, and a contemporary
observed that she could be “terrible, proud,
unendurable” to anyone who crossed her.
In the aftermath of the gunpowder plot,
Anne’s relationship with James deteriorated
even further. Before long they were barely on
speaking terms, even in public. James made
no secret of his derision for his “stupid wife”.
Anne was increasingly afflicted by ill health,
including a gynaecological condition that
seems to have been caused by complications
with her last pregnancy in 1606. This
hampered marital relations, which created
an even greater distance between Anne and
her husband. James did not trouble to visit his
wife during the last illness-racked months of
her life. Neither did he show any regret when
she died on 2 March 1619. She was buried in
Westminster Abbey, but her husband chose
not to erect a tomb in her memory.
It was left to Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth,
whom the plotters had intended to put on the
throne, to realise her mother’s ambitions. As
queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth would wield
considerable influence and establish a
bloodline that, a century after Anne’s death,
would wipe out all trace of the Stuart dynasty
(Elizabeth’s daughter Sophia was the mother
of Britain’s first Hanoverian king, George I).
If Queen Anne was the “great patron”
of the gunpowder plot, then she took the
secret to her grave. Only in fiction have I been
able to cast her in that role more decisively.
But the prospect that she really was behind
the most notorious terror plot in British
history remains a tantalising one.
Tracy Borman has written numerous books on the
Tudor and Stuart periods. Anne of Denmark
features in Tracy’s debut novel, The King’s Witch
(Hodder & Stoughton). Read our review on page 74
DISCOVER MORE
EVENT
왘 Tracy Borman is discussing King James
and the gunpowder plot at BBC History
ALAMY
Magazine’s History Weekend in
Winchester. historyweekend.com
BBC History Magazine
 Experts discuss and review the latest history releases

BOOKS

Keith Thomas, photographed in

Oxford. “Ideas about civilisation are
fascinating to untangle because they
are very revealing about what people’s
values were, and what they believed to
be the ideal way of life,” says Thomas
Photography by Fran Monks

INTERVIEW / KEITH THOMAS

“The world was divided into two types

of people: the ‘civil’ and the ‘barbarous’”
Keith Thomas speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about his new book on England’s quest for civilisation

BBC History Magazine 63

Books / Interview
PROFILE KEITH THOMAS
Sir Keith Thomas is a historian of early modern
Britain, and an honorary fellow at All Souls
College, Oxford. His best-known works include
Religion and the Decline of Magic and Man and
the Natural World
What exactly did it mean to be ‘civi-
lised’ in the 16th to 18th centuries?
Civility had a number of different meanings
at this time, and we need to separate them
out in order to understand them. It could
mean an orderly system of government. But
it could also mean the forms of behaviour
that good citizens were expected to demon-
strate. So there were two different notions of
civility: firstly, as a non-barbarous form of
existence, and secondly, as polite behaviour.
These are fascinating ideas to untangle
because they are very revealing about what
people’s values were, how they thought social
relationships should be and what they
believed to be the ideal way of life. ‘Civilisa-
tion’ was a purely rhetorical term: it simply
meant the state of a society that one person
happened to think was best. As such, the
criteria for civilisation changed steadily over
the centuries. Initially, the emphasis was on
having a properly organised state governed
by the law, with a monopoly on violence. It
then extended to integrate humanity and
compassion. In the 18th century, as trans-
portation and imprisonment began to
replace corporal and capital punishments,
people patted themselves on the back for
being more civilised than before. Others
saw the progress of the arts, sciences and
technology, or how a society treated the
poor, as markers of civilisation. Anything
could be a test of civilisation, depending on
what your social and moral values were.
How did these ideas shape England’s
interaction with the rest of the world?
They were crucial. The tendency to divide
the world into two categories of people – the
‘civil’ and the ‘barbarous’ – goes back to
classical antiquity, and this distinction
carried through into the early modern
period. The rest of the world was not
thought uniformly barbarous, however
– there was considerable respect for the great
empires of India and China. But Native
Americans, most Africans, the inhabitants
of the South Seas and to some extent the
Irish were all seen as more or less barbarous.
Once you define people as barbarous, a lot
of unpleasant consequences follow. Western
European laws of war considered it wrong to
molest civilians or kill prisoners. But these
rules were totally suspended when Europe-
ans encountered these ‘barbarous’ cultures
– they were subject to a completely different
64
set of rules. Only civilised countries were
deemed deserving of independent status as
states and, by the 19th century, lawyers had
determined a western standard of civilisa-
tion that other nations had to meet to
qualify for membership of the international
community. If they didn’t qualify, you could
do almost anything to them. Slavery, for
example, was justified on the grounds that
the enslaved Africans were barbarous and
would benefit from being brought to
plantations run by ‘civilised’ people.
Defenders of slavery claimed that, once the
Africans had been civilised, they wouldn’t
be enslaved anymore.
Was this a cynical ploy to justify
slavery and the imperial project?
I don’t think it was done cynically. It
certainly worked to Europeans’ advantage,
but it was quite sincere. For example, it was
believed that if people occupied territory,
God intended them to cultivate it, and that
if they didn’t cultivate it then they were not
entitled to own it. So when early colonists
encountered the Native Americans – who
hunted and practised very little agriculture
– they believed they had no rights to
the land.
You suggest this period saw the
‘invention of race’ – how so?
In 1500, the accepted doctrine was that
humanity comprised a single race, all
descended from Adam and Eve. Only a few
sceptics put forward the notion of polygen-
ism – that the human race had a number
of different ancestors. That was a very
heretical, atheistic thing to say. Racial
differences were believed to be a product of
environment, climate or lack of education.
It was only in the later 17th century that
people began to argue that the world
consisted of different races that were
ethnically and inherently distinct. It was
“In 1500, the
accepted doctrine
was that all of
humanity comprised
a single race”
a big jump from saying that people hadn’t
been civilised yett to saying that they were
intrinsically incapable of being civilised.
What forms did ‘civilised’ behaviour,
in the sense of good manners, take?
It meant very different things according to
who you were. For the aristocracy, politeness
emerged not just in the narrow sense of good
manners but as a whole way of life. It meant
a cultured way of living and knowing how
to behave in polite society, but also included
matters of taste: connoisseurship, foreign
languages and so on.
In the 18th century, a ‘polite’ person was
expected to know how to enter a room, doff
his hat, converse in an elegant and amusing
way and retire – essentially, how to get in
and how to get out. Posture was thought to
be a tell-tale sign of who was who. ‘Com-
mon’ people were believed to be lumpish and
awkward, whereas a young nobleman could
be spotted across the room simply from the
way he carried himself or positioned his legs.
Table manners also developed. Whereas in
the 16th century people would eat using only
a knife, by the 18th century there was a
whole plethora of cutlery, and carving meat
had become a very important gentleman’s
accomplishment.
Of course, the rules of civility for women
were very different from those for men –
a huge emphasis was placed on submissive-
ness and chastity, and women were allowed
to indulge their emotions in the way that
men were not. Self-control was one of the
key features of civility and, while it was
a very bad thing for a gentleman to laugh
out loud or weep in public, women were
thought to have less self-discipline.
Did this polite behaviour reinforce
social hierarchies?
In the 18th century, civility was central to
the self-definition of the upper classes, who
were obsessed by the need to demonstrate
their superiority. They set great store on
developing manners – which they did not
want to be emulated – in order to distin-
guish themselves from those below them.
It’s also true that manners in this period
began as forms of deference to your social
superiors, whether that was by bowing or
kneeling to your lord or by taking your hat
off to your employer. But notions of civility
soon affected your relations with all people
BBC History Magazine

at all social levels. That didn’t mean you
should treat everyone equally, however. You
were expected to be deferential and respect-
ful to your superiors, frank to your equals,
and condescending, in a decent sort of way,
to your inferiors.
What this assumed of course, was that
everybody knew exactly who their superiors
and inferiors were. There was a great
contrast between life in the countryside,
where everybody knew their place, and life
in the city, where it was becoming increas-
ingly difficult to tell who was who. Com-
pared with their continental counterparts,
the English aristocracy developed very infor-
mal manners. They began wearing great-
coats and even trousers, which were really
rather working class.
How did manners relate to religion?
In principle, manners and religion should
have pointed in the same direction. Civility
advocated benevolence, compassion,
courtesy, decency, honesty and modesty –
all of which you might have heard about in
sermons. Early theorists of civility said that
good behaviour and bodily comportment
reflected the healthy condition of your soul.
But it didn’t work out that way. The prob-
BRIDGEMAN
lems began when puritans realised that
civility required you to be courteous and
friendly to very sinful people and put
BBC History Magazine
politeness before their spiritual health. If
somebody fell asleep in church for example,
waking them up was a very good thing
spiritually, but it was very bad manners. The
biggest conflict was that being polite often
involved falsity – whether it was insincerely
complimenting someone, or concealing the
hostility you felt towards people to whom
you were sucking up.
Philosopher Immanuel Kant spent ages
pondering whether it was immoral to tell
your servants to say you weren’t at home
when really you just didn’t want visitors, or
to sign a letter ‘yours faithfully’ when you
weren’t really very faithful. The consensus
that emerged was that benevolence should
take priority over truthfulness. If a terrible
author asks: “what did you think of my
book?”, you should at least be polite about it.
Was politeness a barrier to intimacy?
Within the family, relationships between
parents and children were generally a great
deal more formal than they are today.
A good child was expected to bow to his
parents morning and night, and the father
was expected to put his hand on his child’s
head and give them his blessing. However,
great value was placed on intimate friend-
ships, which were regarded as an ideal to
which everyone should aspire. Once you
were an intimate friend, formality was largely
A c1780 view of a
well-mannered drawing
room. “For the aristocracy,
politeness emerged not just
in the narrow sense of good
manners, but as a whole way
of life,” says Keith Thomas
cast aside, just as today you wouldn’t need to
shake hands with your friend every day.
You suggest that the lack of courtesies
today isn’t evidence of a ‘decivilising
process’, but rather one of ‘informali-
sation’. What do you mean by that?
Many things are tolerated today that would
have been unacceptable in the early modern
period. The bowing and scraping has
certainly gone out, but that doesn’t mean
that we have relaxed into some kind of
barbarism. Civility, in the sense of benevo-
lence and respect for others, is as important
as ever. The role of manners today is to fill
the gaps left by the law. There’s no law
against pushing in a queue, or shouting
loudly in the street, and that’s where
manners come in. Civility is essentially
about strangers being able to live side by side
in large communities. In the words of Barack
Obama, it’s about being able to “disagree
without being disagreeable”. Today, when we
live in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic society,
civility is still an essential
social cement for keeping
the show on the road.
In Pursuit of Civility: Manners
and Civilization in Early
Modern England by Keith
Thomas (Yale, 480 pages, £25)
65
Henry VIII
certainly had balls.
In 1509, he spent his own money on a top-of-the-range
warship, the Mary Rose. He even had the initials
HI engraved on the cannons, standing for Henricus
Invictissimus (Henry Most Invincible). He might not
have been invincible but a fair bit of his ship was.
Witness it for yourself, along with thousands of
recovered Tudor objects from the ship and the crew.

In Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Henry VIII. 500 years. A heartbeat away.

Plan your visit today

and save 10% at
MaryRose.org

Ronald Reagan addresses
the American people about US
defences against potential
nuclear attacks in 1983, a time
when – according to a new book
– US-Soviet tensions were at
an all time high
The edge of oblivion
MATTHEW JONES is swept along by a gripping analysis
of how close the US and the USSR came to nuclear war
1983: The World At the Brink
by Taylor Downing
Little, Brown, 400 pages, £20
It has almost become
a truism that the most
dangerous moments
of the Cold War were
reached during the 13
days of the Cuban
Missile Crisis in
October 1962, when
the world stood on the brink of
thermonuclear war. In recent years,
however, historians have also fastened
on the final few months of 1983, when
US-Soviet tensions hit renewed highs,
and only the vagaries of chance
prevented a disastrous Third World
War from breaking out.
GETTY IMAGES
Particular attention has been drawn
to ‘Able Archer’ in November 1983 – a
Nato command-post exercise simulat-
ing nuclear-release procedures, which
BBC History Magazine
New history titles, rated by experts in their field
REVIEWS
MAGAZINE
CHOICE
may have been misinterpreted by Soviet
leaders as cover for an actual plot by
the Reagan administration to launch
a devastating strike against them. This,
in turn, could have prompted the Soviet
Union to launch its own pre-emptive
nuclear attack, triggering a nuclear
apocalypse costing millions of lives.
It is against this broad canvas of
a world spiralling toward catastrophe
during the so-called Second Cold War,
that Taylor Downing’s pacy popular
history is set. This was a time when
President Reagan was happy to describe
the Soviet Union as the “evil empire”,
and Nato embarked upon a major
augmentation of its nuclear strength
in response to the build-up of Soviet
SS-20 missiles.
Clearly accessible to a wide audience,
Downing’s authoritative and well-
researched narrative charts the growth
of US-Soviet antagonism from Reagan’s
arrival in office in January 1981 to Able
Archer. It deftly takes the reader from
the White House to the skies over the
Kamchatka peninsula, the streets of
Beirut and the corridors of the Kremlin,
where anxieties over confrontational
US rhetoric were rising in the geriatric
leadership of the Communist Party.
He is, however, on less secure ground
when arguing that we are now in
a position to really know how close
we came to war in November 1983.
Western intelligence analysts
undoubtedly thought that Soviet
leaders might have mistaken Able
Archer for preparations for a real
attack. However, a great deal of their
understanding of what had occurred
derived from just a few sources,
including Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB
officer working in London during the
exercise. Recent scholarship on Warsaw
Pact intelligence archives, and the less
Only the vagaries of
chance prevented a
disastrous Third World
War from breaking out
67
Books / Reviews
COMING SOON…
“Next issue, I’ll be talking to Professor David Edgerton about his latest
book, The Rise and Fall of the British Nation. Plus we’ll have historians’
reviews of the latest releases on everything from medieval kings to
the untold history of espionage”
Ellie Cawthorne, staf writer
alarmist recollections of former Soviet
military officials, suggest that, though
precautions against a surprise strike
were taken, there was no general
expectation that Nato would take
the plunge into nuclear war. For one
thing, the key western leaders were still
going about their regular business as
Able Archer ran its course. Moreover,
the missiles with which Nato might
have carried out a nuclear strike were
only just starting to arrive in western
Europe in late 1983. Why would the US
start a war without the weapons that
could give it a decisive edge in the
European theatre?
By contrast, there is good evidence to
show that US-Soviet tension actually
Reagan and new Soviet
leader Gorbachev
forged a collaborative
relationship
peaked a couple of months before Able
Archer, in early September 1983, when
a South Korean flight was downed by
Soviet aircraft after having strayed into
their airspace – a tragic incident related
by Downing in gripping fashion.
None of this diminishes the importance
of the Able Archer episode. It was
because some western leaders (above all,
Reagan himself) believed that they had
gone to the nuclear brink in 1983 that
they then took positive steps to reassure
their Soviet adversaries that they had
no aggressive intent. Of course, it
also required a leader with Mikhail
Gorbachev’s determination and courage
to accept this position, and to sell his
own vision of a world free from the
threat of nuclear war. From 1985 to 1987
the two leaders found a way to forge
a collaborative relationship that would
help bring hostilities to an end.
This a remarkable story, which
Downing tells in sparkling prose and in
a feat of compression that many authors
will envy.
Matthew Jones is professor of international
history at the London School of Economics
68
Countdown to tyranny
ROGER MOORHOUSE considers a well-written account of how
a failing political status quo enabled Hitler’s rise to power
The Death of Democracy
by Benjamin Carter Hett
Heinemann, 304 pages, £20
To some commentators,
the west’s current
political malaise has
echoes of the last days
of the Weimar Republic
before Hitler and the
Third Reich put German
democracy out of its
misery. One would imagine that
Benjamin Carter Hett would count
himself among them – his new book
certainly trumpets that superficial
similarity of a government brought down
by “new media, authoritarianism,
nationalism” and the “formidable
self-promotional skills” of the leader.
Of course, it’s the duty of the sober
historian to assess the validity of such
broad-brushstrokes parallels, and on that
score Hett is thankfully more circum-
spect; such rather glib comparisons are
confined to the introduction and
breathless cover blurb. Beyond these,
The Death of Democracyy is a welcome
retelling of the demise of Weimar and the
concomitant rise of Hitler. Hett writes
well, ably sketching the depressing tale of
political scheming and naivety that
brought an end to Germany’s interwar
democratic experiment and unwittingly
ushered in the Third Reich.
This is unashamedly a political
ting closely on
history, concentrating
the manoeuvrings of Hitler,
President Paul von n
Hindenburg and
Hitler’s two
predecessors as
chancellor, Kurt
von Schleicher
and Franz von
Papen, both of
Adolf Hitler with
h
Rudolf Hess and d
others in 1931
whom share the guilt for levering him
into power.
Hett rightly characterises this as a
coup by which the old elites hoped to
engineer for themselves a veneer of
democratic legitimacy while continuing
to pull the political strings. Hitler, they
imagined, was “their man”, and they
foresaw that, once chancellor, he would
not only be cured of his radical excesses
but would be pushed “so far into the
corner” that he would “squeak”. Hitler,
of course, had other ideas.
Hett covers these political aspects well.
But he rather neglects the other factors
that aided Hitler’s rise, not least the
international context and the destabilis-
ing role played by economics. It should
not be forgotten, for instance, that the
democratic political system had shallow
roots in 1930s Germany, and was seen by
many as an alien imposition, part and
parcel of the hated Versailles settlement.
In the years of stability this was not
so much of a problem, but as soon as the
economy collapsed in 1929–30 – for the
second time in barely six years – it was
no surprise that the faith of the average
German in the status quo was exhaust-
ed. It is this context that explains why
the Weimar Republic ended as a
democracy without democrats, and why
those political machinations were
considered necessary.
This is a good book as far as it goes,
but, in its zeal to chime with our own
hysterical zeitge
zeitgeist, it neglects to
give the wh hole story. It is
a remin nder that history
writtten with one eye
on the present
seeldom does
justice to past
orr present.
Roger Moorhouse
GETTY IMAGES
is a historian and
a
author specialising
in
n modern German
and
d European history
BBC History Magazine
 Best of all is to die laughing, making
a black joke about your own death
or playing a last trick on your enemies.
Shippey’s title comes from the famous
words of the legendary Viking Ragnar
Lothbrok, as immortalised in a 12th-
century poem. Dying captive in a snake
pit, Ragnar gloats about his victories and
declares: “laughing shall I die”. This
book offers many more such stories,
familiar and less well-known: the hero
Gunnar exulting at the sight of his own
brother’s heart lying untrembling on a
dish; Harald Hardrada, meeting defeat
in battle with defiant poems on his lips;
a Viking warrior facing execution, whose
last words are a joke about not getting
blood on his hair.
Shippey analyses these stories in
absorbing detail, teasing out what they
reveal about motivations and value
systems very alien to modern eyes. At the
same time, the book is also an ambitious
history of the Viking world, ranging
from Iceland to Byzantium, Ireland and
A 12th-century woodcarving showing a scene from the Viking saga of Sigurd. Tom Shippey’s Russia, covering a huge sweep of early
new book explores how fatalism and dark humour are key components of many Norse tales medieval history and connecting literary
texts with archaeological discoveries.

A funny old world The tone of the book is often gleefully

provocative, taking aim at what Shippey
ELEANOR PARKER enjoys an entertaining exploration of the sees as the squeamish attitude of modern
academics towards the Vikings, and
Viking mindset, and the brutal black humour at its heart arguing that scholars now sanitise or
ignore the very qualities that made the
Laughing Shall I Die Viking view of the world: fatalistic, Viking mindset distinctive. Of course,
by Tom Shippey ironic and marked by a grim, often there are good reasons to be careful
Reaktion, 368 pages, £20 brutal sense of humour. about taking tales of legendary charac-
In this mindset, the supreme virtue is ters as evidence for how real people
What gave the Vikings self-control – what JRR Tolkien famously might have behaved, especially when
their edge? Was there called the “creed of unyielding will” those stories may have been invented
something unique about celebrated in the medieval literature of centuries after the end of the Viking Age.
the culture of early the north. Even in the direst circum- Nonetheless, Shippey demonstrates
medieval Scandinavia stances, a warrior should maintain an what a powerful hold these stories had
that allowed the attitude of cool detachment, confronting over the imagination of the writers of
Vikings to have such death and pain as if they are nothing at sagas and poems that have given us the
a far-ranging and all. In a culture where even the gods will modern image of the Vikings.
profound impact over the course of face destruction at Ragnarok, it’s not in Spirited, engaging and frequently very
three centuries? victory but in defeat that a person can funny, this book is as memorable and
This fascinating book by distinguished show what they are really made of. enjoyable as the medieval stories it
medievalist Tom Shippey sets out to explores – an unmissable read for anyone
answer these questions by exploring interested in the Vikings.
what he calls the ‘Viking mindset’,
Best of all is to make
GETTY IMAGES

as described in medieval sagas, poems Eleanor Parker is the author of Dragon Lords:
and histories. What he identifies is a black joke about The History & Legends of Viking England
a particular set of values – a code of (2018). You can read Eleanor’s feature on
behaviour based on a characteristic your own death Ragnar Lothbrok on page 28

BBC History Magazine 69

Books / Reviews
Identity crisis
BENJAMIN HOUSTON is impressed by a timely history of two
slogans that have shaped debates about the American nation
Behold, America: A History
of America First and the
American Dream
by Sarah Churchwell
Bloomsbury, 384 pages, £20
History books overtly
crafted in response to
pressing present-day
issues are a mixed bag.
They often lapse into
either reductionistic
polemics or laboured
narratives. Sarah Churchwell has instead
provided us with a book that is genuinely
timely and broadly insightful about the
past, with neither characteristic doing
a disservice to the other. In Behold,
America – which she calls an extended
“genealogy of national conversations” –
Churchwell traces the backstory of two
phrases central to American identity and
political discourse: ‘the American
Dream’ and ‘America First’. The latter, of
course, is rather superficially identified
with the US’s isolationist stance during
the First World War. But Churchwell
Daughters of history
SARAH GRISTWOOD finds that an engaging narrative about the
daughters of Elizabeth Stuart fills some gaps in the succession story
Daughters of the Winter Queen
by Nancy Goldstone
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 496 pages, £20
For many of us, there is
a bit of a gap in British
history. The sexy Stuarts
produced – through an
obscure route – the horrid
Hanoverians, whose line
continues to the present
monarchy. But how did we get from
James I to George I? Nancy Goldstone’s
vivid and convincing new book is in
70
A Ku Klux Klan gathering in the
1920s. The slogan ‘America First’
has been used by a variety of
groups in American history,
including the Klan
eagerly traces how the phrase was always
contested, becoming a catchphrase or
reference for varied groups of people
with diverse motives – including, among
others, the Ku Klux Klan.
The more amorphous ‘American
Dream’, however – today equated with
the siloed comforts of typical US
suburbanism – was actually first used in
exactly the opposite sense. Conceived as
a warning against rampant capitalism,
the phrase was meant as a moral appeal
for Americans to protect opportunity for
all, rather than facilitate the ascendance
of a few. That such a central notion to the
American sense of self has morphed so
dramatically is telling. In tracing the
origins of these terms further back than
most do, and charting their evolving
twists and turns amid the fierce debates
‘The American Dream’
was first used as a warning
against rampant capitalism
some ways a succession story, rewritten
to give the distaff line its due.
Wisely, perhaps, her pitch passes over
the well-worn glamour of the ‘Winter
Queen’ herself, Elizabeth Stuart.
Nonetheless, almost a third of this text
is taken up by recounting that queen’s
youth and married life. Daughter of
James VI and I – and proposed puppet
queen of the Gunpowder Plotters – she
married a princeling who became king of
Bohemia but held the throne for just one
year. When he died 12 years later, their
eldest daughter, also named Elizabeth,
of what those terms should mean,
Churchwell provides a mirror to
American history itself.
What joins these two phrases together
– and gives this book a looming impor-
tance for today – is Donald Trump, who
used both these phrases in his campaign
and presidential inauguration. In
personifying this history with Trump,
Churchwell gives this history an urgency
for now. But that is not just a narrative
strategy – it is a reminder that fascist
tendencies, white supremacy, and
economic and political exploitation have
always been firm muscles supporting the
dark underbelly of American society.
Churchwell ably mixes the crushing
weight of numerous examples with
was only 13, and the youngest, Sophia,
was just a toddler. From the ambitious
but impecunious court the couple had
set up in The Hague, the ‘Winter Queen’
continued to mount a decades-long
rearguard action, vindicated only after
her own death. She would never regain
Bohemia, but her grandson would
become king of Great Britain.
But this is primarily the story of
the ‘Winter Queen’s’ four surviving
daughters. Elizabeth, the eldest, a scholar
and correspondent of philosopher René
Descartes, became a Protestant abbess.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Louisa, a talented painter, broke her
family’s hearts by turning Catholic for
her choice of convent refuge. Beautiful
Henrietta Maria died just months after
marrying the prince of distant Tran-
sylvania. And it is unfair that Sophia is
BBC History Magazine

engrossing side-turns into American
literature and lashings of prescient
journalists Walter Lippmann and
Dorothy Thompson. She favours
elegant parallels neatly juxtaposed
with an occasional arch observation.
The book’s salient reminder is that
the American values of liberty, equality
and justice usually work at cross-
purposes to each other rather than in
harmony. Rarely does a book speak
so compellingly to the present moment
while also narrating a wider history
in such a direct, purposeful, and
necessary way.
Benjamin Houston is a senior lecturer in
modern US history at Newcastle University
remembered less for her wit and intellect,
or for her friendship with philosopher
and mathematician Leibniz, than for
her place in the English succession. Had
she lived two months longer, she would
have succeeded Anne in 1714. As it is, the
plum went to her son George.
Goldstone’s sweeping narrative
encompasses a lot of extended family
history, not least the ramifications of the
Civil War. But as the author of Four
Queens, The Rival Queens and The Maid
and the Queen, Goldstone is used to
managing the reins of a multi-faceted
royal narrative – and, once again, she
does it with consummate skill.
GETTY IMAGES
d is the author of Game of
Sarah Gristwood
Queens: The Women who Made 16th-century
Europe (2016)
BBC History Magazine
Revolting tales
MARISA LINTON is disappointed by a wry retelling of the
French Revolution that lacks real academic insight
The French Revolution
and What Went Wrong
by Stephen Clarke
Century, 592 pages, £25
Stephen Clarke’s previous
books have offered
humorous insights into
the French psyche from
a self-consciously English
perspective, with titles
such as 1000 Years of
Annoying the French and A Year in the
Merde. In his latest, he turns his attention
to the French Revolution of 1789, the
event that transformed France from old
regime to modern country and the
seismic impact of which was felt globally.
Early chapters draw upon memoirs of
courtiers at Versailles to show us the
world that the revolution would sweep
away. Stories of arrogant, power-hungry
kings, ambitious mistresses and fatuous,
decadent nobles are told with relish.
The last king, Louis XVI, was
well-intentioned, and far from the fool
often portrayed in popular histories, but
he lacked the qualities needed to manage
the financial crisis that threatened the
monarchy from 1786. Pitiably out of his
depth, he floundered indecisively, his
lack of leadership doing much to
precipitate the slide from state bank-
ruptcy to revolution. His queen,
Marie-Antoinette, also helped prepare
the grouund d with
ith her
h implacable
i l bl hostility
h tilit
towards compromise with moderate
revolutioonaries and her
growingg determina-
tion to overthrow
the revollution by
means of an armed
invasionn by her
Austrian n relatives.
Marie--Antoinette,
pain
nted in 1783.
Her ex
xtravagance
helpped pave the
way fo
or revolution
WANT MORE ?
For interviews with authors of the latest
books, check out our weekly podcast
at historyextra.com/podcasts
Despite the description of Clarke’s
book as “the true, untoldd story of La
Révolution”, few subjects have attracted
more attention. Yet, puzzlingly, Clarke
largely ignores what has already been
written on the subject. Had he been
more open to the work of historians, he
could have found many more insights
into what, as he puts it “went wrong”
with the revolution – namely, why the
constitutional monarchy, founded in
1789, collapsed just three years later.
The single most important reason is
the war that broke out in April 1792
between France and Austria, escalating
to include the major powers of western
Europe united against the French. It was
this war that radicalised the revolution
and made the fragile monarchy unten-
able, yet the book devotes fewer than two
pages to this fateful decision.
Clarke takes on the role of supercilious
Englishman, explaining to his country-
men how the vagaries of the French led
them to abandon their monarchy,
whereas the English sensibly hung on to
theirs. Of course, the narrative is meant
to be humorous, but depicting history in
terms of national stereotypes can be
misleading. Clarke skims over the
politics of the revolution itself, attribut-
ing its radicalisation to the antics of a few
“troublemakers” leading “the mob”
astray. In fact, relatively few nobles died
under the guillotine. It was mass
conscription
i ti – anotherth consequence
c of
the war – that ignited a ccivil war in
western France, which h in turn led to
the great majority of deaths,
d most of
them peasants. Clarkke could have
made interesting paraallels here with
the huge loss of life in Britain’s civil
wars. But first he woulld need to
abandon the national stereotypes,
and read ssome more
serious history.
h
nton is associate
Marisa Lin
professor of
o history at
Kingston University,
U London
71
 Master’s in Postgraduate
loans now
available for

TUDOR HISTORY this course*

Politics, Diplomacy, Religion & Culture 1485-1603

Starting in October 2018, this is a one-year,
London-based programme of ten evening
seminars and an individual research project,
offering an overview of the history of the
Tudor dynasty and its place in British and
European history, with seminars by a series
of internationally acclaimed political and
cultural historians of the period. Speakers for
2018/19 include:
Professor David Starkey
TH
Others wishing to attend the seminars &
dinners, but not intending to take the MA
degree, may join the course as Associate
Students at a reduced fee. Examination is by
a research dissertation on a subject of the
student’s choice.
For further details and applications contact:
Maria Floyd,
Humanities Research Admissions
T: +44 (0)1280 827514

Professor Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch E: humanitiespg-admissions

E
U

@buckingham.ac.uk
Un

The programme is led by one of Britain’s

IV
iv

Or Google ‘Buckingham MA Tudor History’

er

ER

leading historians of Tudor England,

sit

SI
yo

TY

Dr Glyn Redworth.
ft

*For more information see gov.uk/masters-loan

he

O
F
Ye

BU
ar

Each seminar takes place at the Reform

C
fo

Club in central London and is followed by

rT

THE UNIVERSITY OF
IN
ea

a dinner during which participants can BUCKINGHAM

H
ch

A
in

engage in general discussion with the guest

M
gQ

expert on the issues raised by the seminar. LONDON PROGRAMMES

ua
lit
y

e
c ke t s onloinney!
Buy ti save m
and

Thrill to the sights and Two battles Expert talks

sounds as hundreds BOSWORTH Knights jousting
of re-enactors Medieval market
History camps
re-create the
Fancy dress
Battle of
MEDIEVAL
and much
Bosworth more...
festival
1 8 & 1 9 A u g u st

Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, Sutton Cheney, CV13 0AD

Tel: 01455 290429 • email: bosworth@leics.gov.uk
/BosworthBattlefield @bosworthlcc /BosworthBattlefield

The Templars: The
Rise and Fall of God’s
Holy Warriors
by Dan Jones
Head of Zeus, 512 pages, £9.99
Dan Jones’s latest
blockbuster
vividly relates
a story always
worth the
retelling: the
glittering,
blood-won ascendancy of the
Knights Templar as the holiest
of God’s warriors, followed by
their ignominious and
spectacular fall as alleged
heretics and thus enemies of
the same God.
The Poor Knights of Christ
and the Temple of Solomon, to
give them their original name
(taken from their base at the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem
after the First Crusade), were
the earliest of the religious
military orders. Knightly
monks who followed monastic
vows in their fight against the
infidels, their initial role was to
protect pilgrims heading for
Jerusalem. However, their local
experience and growing wealth
soon made them indispensable
advisers to European crusaders
in the Holy Land. They were
renowned for their almost
suicidal bravery: Jones recounts
how at the “madness” of
Cresson in 1187 (called a “battle
fit to turn dark hair grey” by
a contemporary Arab writer)
“fifty to sixty knights died in
a shower of their own gore”.
The Templars offered up a
steady supply of martyrs.
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
But the fall of the last
crusader outpost of Acre in
1291 deprived the Templars
of their purpose. In 1307, the
cash-strapped Philip the Fair
of France (seen by Jones as “a
calculating zealot”), enviously
eyeing the Templars’ wealth,
BBC History Magazine
led their savage suppression
through trumped-up charges
of heresy and sexual depravity.
Across Europe, the Templars
were arrested and often
tortured and executed. Their
last grand master, Jacques de
Molay, was burned at the stake
in Paris in 1314. The cynicism
behind the destruction of the
Templars still shocks to this day.
Jones never falters in this
stirring popular history.
Inevitably, especially in a book
of this size, there are some
infelicities and contestable
interpretations that might be
questioned, but these in no way
detract from what is a compel-
ling story, compellingly told.
This is a fascinating and
exciting book to match its topic.
Sean McGlynn is author of Kill
Them All: Cathars and Carnage
in the Albigensian Crusadee (The
History Press, paperback 2018)
Jane Austen at Home
by Lucy Worsley
Hodder, 400 pages, £25
Lucy Worsley’s
wonderful new
biography of Jane
Austen quite
literally treads old
ground in order
to shine fresh
light on the life of one of
Britain’s best-loved novelists.
Worsley tracks Austen’s story
through the houses in which
she lived and the landscapes
through which she walked,
revealing in the process
a vividly embodied writer
whose novels consistently and
movingly explore what it means
to have a home and to be
threatened with homelessness.
Worsley announces herself
early on to be a “signed up
‘Janeite’, a devotee and
worshipper”, and her affection
Books / Paperbacks
PAPERBACKS
and respect for her subject is there certainly are a number of
evident at every turn. Through striking similarities. And this is
imaginative readings of much more than just another
Austen’s letters, careful clichéd biography. Hemming
reconstructions of the rooms has scoured the National
she occupied and sympathetic Archives, contacted former
evocations of her relationships members of Britain’s intelligence
with the women whose houses community, and been granted
she shared, Worsley pieces access to hitherto closed private
together a compelling story collections of papers.
that will show even the most The result is a fast-paced and
ardent and expert Janeities highly readable book that will
their heroine anew. appeal to specialist and
generalist alike. There is lots
Daisy Hay is senior lecturer at the of new material here, and Hem-
University of Exeter, specialising in ming keeps the story zipping
18th- and 19th-century literature along. The main focus is the
Second World War, but there’s
also lots of material on the
M: Maxwell Knight, pre- and postwar periods.
MI5’s Greatest Spymaster Perhaps surprisingly for a man
by Henry Hemming who spent his working life in
Arrow, 416 pages, £9.99 the shadows, this is the third
biography of Maxwell Knight
If there are two – and by far the best.
characteristics
that popular Michael S Goodman is professor
books about of intelligence and international
spies share, affairs at King’s College London
the first is that
they claim to
portray the greatest or most
immportant spy ever to have
liived; the second is that, if
thhey’re about British spies,
thhey undoubtedly feature
thhe fabled inspiration for
James Bond.
Hemming’s book is no
exception to this rule. To
his credit, the subject of the
book does have the same
title – ‘M’ – as the fictional
head of James Bond’s MI6, and
Maxwell Knight,
photographed in 1934. The
spymaster is rumoured to
be the inspiration for
the James Bond
character M
73
Books

THREE MORE
NOVELS ON FEMALE
COURTIERS
The Other Boleyn Girl
Philippa Gregory (2001)

Mary Boleyn, sister

M
o
of the more famous
A
Anne, is at the heart
o
of Philippa Gregory’s
well-known novel,
w
made into a 2008
m
film with Scarlett
fi
Johansson in the
J
title role. This tale of the Boleyns’
ambitions combines the page-
turning qualities of the blockbusting
bestseller with genuinely deep and
wide-ranging historical research.
Gregory uses convincing detail and
dialogue to take readers into the
Royal witch hunter: Tracy Borman uses James VI & I’s feverish fear of heart of the claustrophobic Tudor
witchcraft as the jumping-off point for her first historical novel court and its endless intrigues.

Innocent Traitor
FICTION Alison Weir (2006)

Spellbinding storytelling
NICK RENNISON enjoys a debut novel that weaves together
fact and fiction in a tale of politics and paranoia
The King’s Witch
by Tracy Borman
Hodder & Stoughton, 448 pages, £16.99
At the court of the new
king, James VI & I,
supporters of his
predecessor, Elizabeth I,
find little favour. One of
those who soon falls foul
of James’s regime is
Frances Gorges, the
chief protagonist of this gripping debut
novel by royal historian Tracy Borman.
Not only was the young woman one
of Elizabeth’s most trusted companions
during the queen’s final months, she
is also a healer and herbalist of great
talents. To James, these gifts smack
of the supernatural: the king, freshly
arrived in London from his Scottish
kingdom, is obsessed by the idea of
witches. They are the spawn of the devil
and must all, he believes, be rooted out
and destroyed.
Frances herself would rather spend
the head of the family, has other ideas.
His insistence that she take up her
position at court places Frances in great
danger. So, too, do the scheming of her
family’s political rival, Lord Cecil, and
the king’s relentless persecution of
alleged witches.
Just about her only friend at court is
a handsome, mysterious lawyer named
Tom Wintour. However, Wintour is
embroiled in plots against the king,
and Frances’s relationship with him
propels her into even deeper trouble.
Borman’s expertise as a historian of
this period is in evidence throughout
The King’s Witch, and she cleverly
weaves together elements of both the
romance novel and the thriller in a
story that holds the attention from the
first page. She has taken the real history
of the tumultuous early years of the
reign of James I and added to it her own
(mostly plausible) speculations to create
a plot that not only twists and turns
towards a gripping conclusion but also
promises further tales to come.
H
W
Historian Alison
Weir has recently
eembarked on a
sseries of a novels
aabout Henry VIII’s six
qqueens. But she first
tturned to fiction over
a decade ago with
hi re-telling
this lli of the tragic tale of
Lady Jane Grey, the young girl who
was propelled by the scheming of
her family into a nine-day reign as
queen after the death of Edward VI,
and became one of the saddest
victims of the era’s power politics.
The Girl in the Glass Tower
Elizabeth Fremantle (2016)
TTwo historical figures,
wwomen who have
ssince slipped into
oobscurity, are at
tthe heart of this
ffascinating novel.
LLady Arbella Stuart,
ggreat-granddaughter
of Henry VIII’s sister, was often seen
as the heir to Elizabeth I, and her life
was shaped and overshadowed by
her closeness to the throne; Aemilia
Lanyer was a poet and possibly
the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s
sonnets. Fremantle creates a
AKG IMAGES

compelling narrative in which their

her time in rural retreat at her family’s fates are intertwined.
home in Hampshire, tending her plants Nick Rennison is the author of Carver’s
and reading her books, but her uncle, Truth (Corvus, 2016)

74 BBC History Magazine

 Jonathan Wright previews the pick of upcoming programmes
Poet Tony Harrison
returns to Prague
to reassess
the tumultuous
events of 1968
Spirit of reform
Sunday Feature:
Tony Harrison’s Prague Spring
RADIO Radio 3
Scheduled for Sunday 8 July
In the mid-1960s, poet Tony Harrison
lived and taught in Prague. These were
years when a spirit of reform was in the
air in the lead-up to the ‘Prague Spring’.
It was an era that came back to life for
Harrison when he was clearing out his
attic and came across cartoons by Jirí
Jirásek – images of all-hearing giant ears
and guillotines slicing pencils – that
Harrison had smuggled out of Czecho-
slovakia. Five decades on, Harrison
returns to Prague to meet Jirásek and
other Czech friends from the 1960s.
Louis XIV (George Blagden) again
shows his inability to deal with dissent
The limits of autocracy
Versailles
TV BBC Two
Scheduled for June
JAMES DREW TURNER-GUARDIAN SYNDICATION/GETTY IMAGES/BBC
The affair of the poisons has been
resolved and the Franco-Dutch War has
been won. But life just doesn’t get any
easier for Louis XIV (George Blagden),
what with his people not being keen on
the costs of an expansionist foreign
policy and the monarch’s own inability
to deal with dissent. And why is there
a man in an iron mask kicking around
the French prison system?
According to writers Andrew
Bampfield and Tim Loane, the third
and final series of the historical drama
will look beyond the court to explore
how Louis’ policies affected his people,
with the city of Paris becoming “a
major new character”.
BBC History Magazine
TV&RADIO
Free at the point of use
It’s seven decades since Britons were first able to
go to the doctor without worrying about the bill
NHS at 70
TV & RADIO BBC networks
From Friday 25 June
The National Health Service turns
70 this year. It’s an anniversary marked
with a season of shows across the BBC.
The centrepiece of the season is an
as-yet untitled live 90-minute show
hosted by Nick Robinson and Anita
Rani (BBC Two) that draws on research
from four think tanks to debate the
future of the service.
There’s plenty of programming to
add context to such discussions.
Hospitals that Changed the World
(BBC Two) looks at five institutions,
each in a different region, that demon-
strate how the NHS has so often been
at the forefront of medical advances.
Made in conjunction with the Univer-
sity of Warwick’s history department
and co-commissioned by the Open
University, The People’s History of the
NHS (BBC Four) sees comedian Alex
Brooker fronting a “crowd-sourced”
take on the service’s story. Matron,
Medicine and Me (BBC One) features
five celebrities – including Fern Britton,
Denise Lewis and Si King – who have
reasons to say thanks to the NHS.
On Radio 4, National Health Stories
A baby is weighed
in a Bristol clinic in
1948, the year in
which the NHS
was created
MAGAZINE
CHOICE
(Monday 18 June) is a 20-part series
in which Professor Sally Sheard of
Liverpool University charts the
innovations and events that have shaped
healthcare in the UK. The series covers
such topics as links between the
invention of the hip replacement and
the advent of the sterile operating
theatre, and the impact of the pill on
attitudes to the health needs of women.
In UK Conidential: The Birth of
the NHS (Radio 4, Saturday 30 June),
Martha Kearney trawls through the
archives to chart the arguments that
went on behind the scenes in the run-up
to the establishment of the NHS. In
part, it’s a story of how the British
Medical Association watered down
proposals for a comprehensive national
health service, as envisaged in the 1942
Beveridge Report and detailed in a
subsequent white paper (1944).
One of the central figures in these
arguments would have been Aneurin
Bevan, Clement Attlee’s minister of
health. For Out of Tredegar (Radio 4,
Friday 29 June), Michael Sheen profiles
a man whose worldview was shaped by
his upbringing in the Welsh valleys.
For more on the creation of the NHS,
turn to our feature on page 37
The NHS has so
oten been at
the forefront of
medical advances
75
TV & Radio
Female munitions workers during the First World War. Margaret MacMillan’s
Reith Lectures will explore the role of women in conflict
A bloody business
The Reith Lectures
RADIO Radio 4 & BBC World Service
Tuesday 26 June
Why, as individuals and under
collective identities, do we fight?
It’s a question that lies at the centre
of the latest series of Reith Lectures,
The Mark of Cain, to be given by the
eminent Canadian historian
Professor Margaret MacMillan.
Over five lectures, she will also
address such issues as how changes in
society have affected the nature of war,
and how wars themselves bring change.
Many fields get a fillip from conflict,
National crisis
Darkest Hour
DVD (£9.99, Universal Pictures, PG)
According to the oft-told national
narrative, 1940 was a year when,
despite military disasters, the
collective will was for fighting on, alone
and bloodied but unbowed. By
focusing on the travails of Winston
Churchill as spring gave way to
summer that year, director Joe Wright
and scriptwriter Anthony
McCarten tell us
a different story.
At the heart of the
film lies Churchill
himself, played by
Gary Oldman in
an Oscar-winning
performance. Never
mind the Nazis,
here’s a man beset by
Gary Oldman delivers an Oscar-winning
performance as the “lonely” Winston Churchill
76
and the stories of how we came to
develop penicillin, radar and rockets
are bound up with war.
MacMillan will also look at the lot
of women during times of conflict, and
will conclude by examining how we
think and feel about war, a recurring
theme over the years for writers and
artists. She will be delivering the
lectures at five locations: London, York,
Beirut, Belfast and Ottawa. Anita
Anand will chair the talks, replacing
Sue Lawley, who recently stood down
after 17 years in the role.
Read our interview with Margaret
MacMillan on page 25
rivals within his own government –
men such as Viscount Halifax
(Stephen Dillane) and Neville Cham-
berlain (Ronald Pickup), who make the
case for negotiating with Germany.
Moral support for a lonely Churchill
comes from his wife Clemmie (Kristin
Scott Thomas), King George VI (Ben
Mendelsohn) and the people of
London whom Churchill meets during
a ride on the London Underground.
The latter scene has attracted
criticism for being both mawkish
and historically inaccurate,
but that overlooks a
bigger truth. Darkest
Hourr reminds
us that Britain
carrying on the fight
wasn’t predeter-
mined, and that we
impose patterns and
narratives on history
after the event.
ALSO LOOK
OUT FOR…
FIND
WEEKLY
TV & RADIO
UPDATES AT
historyextra.com
/tv-radio
Before Grenfell explores the
inequities of a London borough
Who Do You Think You Are?? (July,
BBC One) may be 15 series old, but
our collective enthusiasm for the
format shows no signs of diminish-
ing. That’s perhaps because the idea
of historical events touching on the
lives of direct forebears is one with
which we can all identify. Philosophi-
cal musings aside, the new series
features Our Girll star Michelle
Keegan (in an episode shown ahead
of the rest of the series as part of the
Hear Her season, marking 100 years
since women gained the vote). She’s
followed by Olivia Colman, singer
Boy George, Strictlyy head judge
Shirley Ballas, comedian Lee Mack,
TV presenter Marvin Humes,
barrister Robert ‘Judge’ Rinder and
Paralympian Jonnie Peacock.
On BBC Two and iPlayer, Before
Grenfell: A Hidden History y (June) is
a one-off documentary that explores
how the Royal Borough of Kensing-
ton and Chelsea has long been a
place of inequality, where rich and
poor often make uneasy neighbours.
The Chinese Exclusion Act (PBS
America, Friday 29 June) focuses on
a piece of federal legislation from
1882. This, uniquely, singled out by
name and race a single nationality,
and made it illegal for Chinese
labourers to enter the US and for
Chinese nationals ever to become
citizens. Why were immigrants
treated in such a way?
Meanwhile, Project Nazii (H2,
Wednesday 20 June) explores how
Hitler and his cohorts persuaded
ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES
ordinary Germans to support their
far-right vision for the future. Design,
engineering and, of course,
propaganda were all integral to
the Nazis’ project of persuasion.
BBC History Magazine
 FROM THE MAKERS OF BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE

NAZI
In this special edition of BBC History Magazine, a range
of expert historians provide fascinating insights into
Germany’s Third Reich, exploring the dark history of
Hitler’s regime and showing how the Nazi ideology
permeated numerous aspects of daily life.

Inside you will ind:

◆ A timeline of the Third Reich
◆ Historical perspectives on Adolf Hitler
◆ The Nazi beliefs that took over German society
ONLY ◆ The camps and the Holocaust
◆ Nazi propaganda triumphs
£9.99 INCLUDING
◆ The Third Reich at war
FREE UK P&P *
PL
LUS – subscribers to BBC History Magazine
re
eceive FREE UK postage on this special edition

How the Nazis wooed Germans Why many Germans fought on A failed attempt to
with cheap holidays until the bitter end assassinate Adolf Hitler

er on line w w w.buy su bs crip tions.com/nazis

O rd
ca ll us on 0 33 30 16 21 38 +
an d quote NA ZI S
or
+ Calls from landlines will cost upp to 9pp per
p minute. Call charges
g from mobile pphones will cost between 3pp and 55pp pper minute but are included in free call ppackages.
g
Lines are open 8am–6pm weekdays and 9am–1pm Saturday for orders only. * Subscribers to BBC History Magazine receive FREE UK postage on this special edition.
Prices including postage are: £11.49 for all UK residents, £12.99 for Europe and £13.49 for Rest of World. All orders subject to availability. Please allow up to 21 days for delivery.
 JOIN US FOR TWO EVENTS…

Winchester
5–7 October
The Great Hall and Ashburton Hall, Elizabeth II Court
FESTIVAL LOGO BY FEMKE DE JONG/THE SECRET STUDIO-STEVE SAYERS

York
19–21 October
Yorkshire Museum and King’s Manor

Come and join us in the historic cities of

Winchester and York for our sixth annual History
Weekends. Once again we’ve assembled a line-up
of some of the country’s top historians, who will be
speaking on topics ranging from behaving badly in
Renaissance Britain to the life of Churchill.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT historyweekend.com

IN ASSOCIATION WITH This BBC History Magazine event is held under licence from BBC Studios, who fund new BBC programmes.
More than 40 speakers You’ll find a list of ticket prices – plus
a full rundown of the programme and
● Winchester ● York speaker details – at historyweekend.com

How to book
your tickets
To buy tickets, and
for ticket prices, call
0871 620 4021* or go to
Max Adams ● Marina Amaral ● Diane Atkinson ● Nick Barratt ● Guy de la Bédoyère ● Sanjoy Bhattacharya ●
historyweekend.com
SPECIAL SUBSCRIBERS’ RATES:
If you’re a subscriber to
BBC History Magazine, you can
take advantage of a reduced rate for
all tickets. You will need your
subscriber number when purchasing.
(You can find this on the address label
Tracy Borman ● ● Helen Castor ● ● Alexandra Churchill ● ● Sarah Churchwell ● John Cooper ● Bernard Cornwell ● of your magazine). If you have a digital
subscription, please forward your
subscription order confirmation to
events.team@immediate.co.uk and our
events team will supply you with a
code for reduced rate tickets.

If you’re not yet a subscriber,

you can subscribe by calling
James Daybell ● ● Ruth Goodman ● George Goodwin ● Max Hastings ● Henry Hemming ● MIchael Hicks ● 03330 162 115** or visiting
historyextra.com/subscribe. You’ll
receive your subscription number
up to one hour after subscribing and
can then buy tickets at the reduced
subscriber price. If you take out a
digital subscription please contact
us at events.team@immediate.co.uk
for a code, which we’ll issue ASAP.

James Holland ● Dan Jones ● Ben Kane ● Ian Kershaw ● Ryan Lavelle ● Suzannah Lipscomb ● You will be sent your tickets
in the post or by email (if you
specified an e-ticket) two weeks
before the event. Further information
on the venues will also be provided at
that time. Please note that all venues
at Winchester and York are within
five minutes’ walk of each other.

Terms and Conditions: we are using a

Diarmaid MacCulloch ● Neil MacGregor ●
Gale Owen-Crocker ● Helen Rappaport ●
Nicola Tallis ● ● Joyce Tyldesley ●
Lauren Mackay ● ● Marc Morris ● ● Catherine Nall ● ● Olivette Otele ● third-party company, See Tickets (a company
registered as The Way Ahead Group Ltd in England
and Wales with company number 3554468 and
whose registered office is at Norfolk House, 47
Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham, NG1 2AB),
to process and take your orders for the festival.
Full T&Cs are available via historyweekend.com
We reserve the right to replace the speakers with
alternatives of equal stature in the unlikely event
that any of them are unable to attend. Please let
us know when booking of any special access
David Reynolds ● Fern Riddell ● ● Levi Roach ● Andrew Roberts ● ● requirements. Tickets are non-refundable and
places are limited. If you have any non-ticket
related queries about the event, please email
events.team@immediate.co.uk
* Calls to this number cost 10p per minute plus
network extras. Lines are open 24 hours a day.
** UK calls will cost the same as other standard
fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are
included as part of any inclusive or free minutes
allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside
of free call packages, call charges from mobiles
Nicholas Vincent ● ● Pragya Vohra ● Alison Weir ● ● Emma Wells ● will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines
are open Mon to Fri 8am-6pm and Sat 9am-1pm.

Book
your
Kate Williams ● ● Sam Willis ● ● Michael Wood ● ● Ellie Woodacre ● Lucy Worsley ●
tickets
now
KEEP UP TO DATE @twitter.com/historyextra facebook.com/historyextra
 OUT&ABOUT
HISTORY EXPLORER
Ancient forests
Charlotte Hodgman and Eleanor Rosamund
Barraclough explore Sherwood Forest,
Nottinghamshire, an ancient woodland that for
centuries nourished both body and imagination
W
ith its lush greenery
and cool shade,
Sherwood Forest
is a verdant oasis
in the heart of
Nottinghamshire.
Above me, boughs rustle gently in a light
breeze and birds chirp their merry song in
the sunshine. Sherwood Forest country
park is now part of the larger Sherwood
Forest National Nature Reserve, which is
home to 900 veteran oak trees, including
the Major Oak. This arboreal behemoth is
said by some to be over 1,000 years old –
and its greenery, according to folklore,
hid Robin Hood and his Merry Men from
the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The legend of Robin Hood – along with
the allure of fresh air and green space –
draws many people to Sherwood Forest.
But the history of this green expanse
stretches back long beyond the Middle
Ages, says Dr Eleanor Rosamund
Barraclough. Associate professor of
medieval history and literature at
Durham University, with a particular
interest in Viking and Anglo-Saxon
history, she is also the presenter of six
80
documentaries in a new BBC Radio 3 season
on forests airing from mid-June.
“Just over a decade ago, an open-air Viking
Age assembly site was discovered in Sher-
wood Forest, most likely used as a meeting
point by Norse settlers in this part of
England,” Barraclough tells me as we follow a
rough path through the trees. “The site has
been known since at least the 14th century as
Thynghowe – a combination of Þing, g the Old
Norse word for assembly place, and howe,
derived from haugr, r meaning ‘mound’.”
On a global scale, the history of forests
dates back much, much farther; fossil
evidence suggests that great wooded areas
first came into existence around 400 million
years ago. “When we talk about ancient
forests, though, we’re really looking at
woodlands pre-1600, before they start to
be planted in a more organised way,”
explains Barraclough.
Living of
f the (wood)land
Human occupation of Sherwood can be
traced back to prehistoric times: flint tools
discovered here suggest that the area was used
by early hunter-gathers. However, the first
recorded mention of the name Sherwood – or,
h ‘S
rather, ‘Sciryuda’, meaning ‘the
woodlan nd belonging to the
BRIDGEMAN /GETTY IMAGES
shire’ – dates from AD 958.
William the Conqueror
unting, depicted in
hu
a114th-century illustra-
n. Norman kings
tion
ablished royal forests
esta
across England
BBC History Magazine
 “Trees yielded
fuel and charcoal,
animals could be
grazed here, crops
could be grown”

Sunlight dapples a clearing in

Sherwood Forest, which was
an essential resource for
peasants centuries before it
became a tourist attraction

BBC History Magazine 81

Out & about / History Explorer
The wide-spreading branches of the Major Oak, which is believed to be 800–1000 years old,
are now supported by struts. By tradition, this ancient tree sheltered Robin Hood and his men
“This idea of forests belonging to commu-
nities is really important,” says Barraclough.
“For us, forests are pleasant places to visit –
but for an Anglo-Saxon peasant living in the
area before the Norman conquest, access to
a forest was essential for survival. Trees
yielded fuel and charcoal, animals could be
grazed here and, though there were no
formal field systems, there were spaces
where crops could be grown.”
It’s important to bear in mind that forests
were not exclusively areas of woodland.
“In the 13th century, Sherwood Forest, for
example, covered an area of around 40,000
hectares (100,000 acres) – a fifth of the
county,” says Barraclough. “This area wasn’t
all wooded, but encompassed heath,
moorland and scrub land, as well as villages
and towns. Forests were far more a part of
everyday life than they are today.”
King Harold’s defeat by the Normans at
the Battle of Hastings in 1066 ushered in
a new era for England’s forests. As William
the Conqueror galloped victoriously across
England, imposing his rule, he implemented
the French royal tradition of setting aside
areas of land for hunting. The idea devel-
oped during the reign of the Frankish king
(and later Holy Roman Emperor) Char-
lemagne, in the late eighth and early ninth
century, when the Latin term forestis silva,
literally meaning ‘the woodland outside’
(ie ‘outside civilisation’), was applied to
“[WILLIAM I] ESTABLISHED LAWS... SO THAT
WHOSOEVER SLEW A HART, OR A HIND,
SHOULD BE DEPRIVED OF HIS EYESIGHT”
82
areas of land used by the king for hunting.
By 1086, some 25 royal forests had been
established in England, including the New
Forest and Sherwood. The ruins of a hunting
lodge in Clipstone, once at the heart of
Sherwood Forest, are testament to the royal
love of hunting in the Norman and medieval
periods. The lodge, which overlooked one of
the forest’s three deer parks, was used by
eight kings, from Henry II to Richard II.
Forest law
“The creation of areas of land that sat
outside the law was an entirely new concept
in England,” says Barraclough. “A new
system of forest law was introduced to
protect the ‘venison and the vert’ – the
animals to be hunted and the greenery that
sustained them. By 1200, something like
one-third of the land in southern England
had been set aside as royal forest. That must
have had a massive impact on the lives of
ordinary people. Those who dared to break
forest laws could be punished, usually with
a fine that bolstered the royal coffers.”
Punishments for poaching the king’s deer
were especially harsh. According to the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: “He [William I]
made many deer-parks; and he established
laws therewith; so that whosoever slew a
hart, or a hind, should be deprived of his
eyesight... His rich men bemoaned it, and
the poor men shuddered at it.”
For nearly 150 years, the crown dictated
the land used by ordinary people. But in
1217, two years after Magna Carta clipped
the wings of the monarchy, a Charter of the
Forest was approved. Sealed by Henry III in
the second year of his reign, this less-known
but still highly important charter curbed the
power of the monarchy to seize forest land,
and re-established the rights of ordinary
people to access the forests as they had done
before the Norman conquest.
The Charter of the Forest was one of the
first laws to regulate the use of natural
resources. It gave free men a basic right to
use public lands and resources, including
using the forests to obtain wood and water,
and permission to “drive... swine freely
without impediment”. The issue of poaching
was also addressed and the harsh punish-
ments for hunting the king’s deer revoked.
In 1225, the definitive Forest Charter was
issued; it was to become the longest standing
statute in English history, repealed as
recently as 1971, when it was replaced by the
Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act.
Back in the 11th century, the Domesday
Book recorded that woodland covered about
15 per cent of England. Yet by the end of the
13th century that figure had dropped to as
low as four or five per cent – a tiny propor-
tion of the estimated 50–60 per cent of
England covered by trees in around 3,000 BC.
Then, over the following centuries, wood
was used in ever greater quantities in
emerging industries such as printing. A
DREAMSTIME/BRIDGEMAN
An 18th-century painting of Shakespeare’s
As You Like It, set in the Forest of Arden
BBC History Magazine

VISIT
Sherwood Forest
Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, NG21 9HN
쎲 visitsherwood.co.uk
boom in ship-building during the reign of
Henry VIII also had an impact on English
forests. According to the Forestry Commis-
sion – established to rebuild timber reserves
depleted during the First World War –
constructing a single Tudor warship would
have required about 1,200 trees, clearing an
area equivalent to 40 football pitches.
Meanwhile, in more recent times the
industrial revolution also contributed to the
decline in Britain’s woodlands.
Forests of the imagination
But as their functional uses shrank, forests
began to take on a new role – in the imagina-
tion. “There is a darker, more imaginative
side to forest history,” says Barraclough. “The
legend of Robin Hood and his men hiding
out in Sherwood Forest is one of many such
tales linking forests with outlaws. The idea
that forests are places that exist beyond the
law – as indeed they once did – promotes that
association. And it’s an idea that held sway
outside England; the Old Norse word for
outlaw is skógarmaðrr – ‘forest man’ – hinting
at an association between outlaws and forests
in the Norse world.”
Indeed, forests have provided numerous
artists and writers – from William Shake-
speare to JRR Tolkien and many more –
with material.
“The ultimate forest of the English
imagination has to be Shakespeare’s Forest
of Arden,” comments Barraclough. ““As You
t written around 1599, is set there. In
Like It,
ALAMY
the play it is a place of magic and mystery
– something far removed from everyday life.
BBC History Magazine
Shakespeare is brilliant at conveying the idea
that forests are places in which anything can
happen. Woodland is a place to hide,
a place where lovers can meet in secret and,
notably in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
a place where magic and fairies can exist.”
In the 19th century a more romantic idea
of the forest emerged, as somewhere to be
admired rather than merely used. “The
revived interest in forests in the late
Georgian and Victorian periods was in part
due to romantic novels such as Walter Scott’s
Ivanhoe,” says Barraclough. “That work,
originally published in 1820, introduced the
connection between Robin Hood and
Sherwood Forest, and depicted the famous
outlaw meeting King Richard I here. Literary
tourists were soon flocking to Sherwood to
explore the forest described so vividly by
Scott in his book. The ancient oaks, many of
which still stand, only served to fuel this
association with the medieval forest.”
Sherwood’s most famous tree, the Major
Oak, was a particular draw – as it still is
today. Huge branches spider out from its
massive trunk, supported by a series of
struts. Its dark, gnarly appearance is
reminiscent of other darker forest stories,
such as those found in Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
“Forests aren’t always the tranquil,
picturesque places imagined in romantic
literature,” says Barraclough. “Think of
Tolkien’s Mirkwood – a dim, enchanted
place where huge spiders and dark magic
lurk. But the different ways in which forests
appear in our imaginations is part of their
continuing charm. When you walk through
a forest – even on a glorious day like this,
when the sun is shining and the birds are
singing – there are still areas of darkness. It’s
easy to imagine any number of creatures
lurking behind trees and bushes.”
Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
(left) is associate professor in
medieval history and literature at
Durham University. She has
presented several documentaries
for BBC radio. Words: Charlotte Hodgman
DISCOVER MORE
RADIO
왘 Eleanor will be presenting
six programmes in the new
BBC Radio 3 season Into the
Forest, beginning in mid-June
FOREST HISTORY
FIVE MORE
PLACES TO EXPLORE
1 Forest of Arden
WARWICKSHIRE
Where Shakespeare set a comedy
Stretching from Stratford-upon-Avon in
Warwickshire to Tamworth in Stafford-
shire, and enveloping the cities of
Birmingham and Coventry, the Forest of
Arden was the setting for Shakespeare’s
play As You Like It. Today, only scattered
small patches of the once great forest
remain, including Smith’s Wood.
woodlandtrust.org.uk
2 Savernake Forest
WILTSHIRE
Where Henry VIII met his third wife
The first mention of ‘Safernoc’ appears
in the records of Anglo-Saxon king
Æthelstan in AD 934. Part of it was
designated a royal forest in the 12th
century. It is home to the Big Belly Oak,
believed to be over 1,000 years old, and is
said to have been the site of the first
meeting of Henry VIII and his third wife,
Jane Seymour.
forestry.gov.uk/savernake
3 Puzzlewood
FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Where Tolkien found inspiration
Said to have inspired the fabled forests of
Middle-earth in JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit
and The Lord of the Rings, this 5.5-hectare
woodland is renowned for its strange rock
formations. The forest has been occupied
since Roman times; in 1848, a hoard of
more than 3,000 third-century Roman
coins was discovered in a cave here.
puzzlewood.net
4 Banagher Glen
DERRY/LONDONDERRY,
NORTHERN IRELAND
Where legends abound
It’s said that after St Patrick tried – and
failed – to drive the last snake out of
Ireland, he trapped it in Banagher Glen,
one of the oldest ancient oak woodlands
in the country.
discovernorthernireland.com
5 Lincoln Castle
LINCOLN
Where a charter is held
A copy of the original Charter of the
Forest – sealed by Henry III, and one of
only two in existence – can be seen at
Lincoln Castle alongside Lincoln
Cathedral’s Magna Carta.
lincolncastle.com
83
 Institute of Continuing Education at Madingley Hall

Part-time courses, lifetime beneits

Discover
Milton Abbey Historic Church & Landscape

Choose from 25 mind-stretching part-time courses taught by

leading Cambridge lecturers. Subjects include:
_b0bঞom • Certiicate in International Relations
"-om bv|ou "ll;u _b0bঞomĺ • Certiicate in Local History
$"$Ľ" ! ҃"*$ • Certiicate in Sociology, Politics and Psychology
• Certiicate in the Study of Medieval England
4|_ Ѵ Ŋ ƒƐv| ]v|
bѴ|om00;or;m7-bѴƐƏ-l mঞѴƔrl Apply now for October 2018 entry. No degree required.

Milton Abbey, Milton Abbas, Dorset, DT11 0BZ

WWW.MILTONABBEY.ORG Visit www.ice.cam.ac.uk/history to ind out more
enquiries@ice.cam.ac.uk | +44 (0)1223 746262

Cultural highlights of the UK and Europe,

accompanied by irst-rate speakers.

Power & Patronage in Florence

21–25 February and 24–28 October 2019
One of Italy’s loveliest cities, Florence is probably the world’s most
enthralling destination for the study of art. Includes accommodation
in a central 3-star hotel, breakfasts, a welcome dinner and lectures.

Find out more or request a brochure:

+44 (0)20 3370 1988 | info@culturaltravel.co.uk
www.culturaltravel.co.uk
AITO 5085 | ABTA Y6050 | Part of the Martin Randall Travel group
 Out & about

FIVE THINGS TO DO IN JULY

Eclectic taste
EXHIBITION / FREE ENTRY
Sir Richard Wallace:
MAGAZINE
The Collector
The Wallace Collection, London CHOICE
20 June–6 January 2019
콯 020 7563 9500
쎲 wallacecollection.org

T he Wallace Museum is celebrating the 200th

anniversary of the birth of its founder, Sir Richard
Wallace, with the opening of its brand new £1.2m
exhibition galleries – a development that has tripled the size
of the museum’s existing display space. The first exhibition
in the new galleries explores Sir Richard’s life and interests,
from his inheritance of a huge collection of art in 1870 to
his eclectic taste in objects and artworks. Sir Richard’s
collection was bequeathed to the nation by his widow in
1897 and opened as a museum in June 1900.
The inaugural exhibition will feature a number of
treasures from Sir Richard’s original collection, including
a silver ostrich figure made by the Augsburg silversmith
Elias Zorer in c1600; a gold trophy head from Asante (in
present-day Ghana) in West Africa; ceremonial wine
cups belonging to the emperors of China; plus a selection
of arms and armour, jewellery and more.
The bicentenary will also be commemorated with
a number of other events taking place throughout the
year. These include an international conference on Sir
Richard Wallace and his age, as well as a series of curator
talks, film screenings, theatre productions and a trail Clockwise from top left: a Chinese wine cup; the Irish bell of St Mura;
through the museum. a 16th-century Dutch triptych; and a German statuette of an ostrich

EXHIBITION / FREE ENTRY GALLERY OPENING EXHIBITION EXHIBITION

Represent! World Gallery The Paston Treasure: Rip It Up: The Story
Voices 100 Years On Horniman Museum Riches and Rarities of of Scottish Pop
People’s History Museum, and Gardens, London the Known World National Museum of
Spinningfields, Manchester From 29 June Norwich Castle Museum Scotland, Edinburgh
Until 3 February 2019 콯 020 8699 1872 and Art Gallery 22 June–25 November
콯 0161 838 9190 쎲 horniman.ac.uk 23 June–23 September 콯 0300 123 6789 (booking line)
WALLACE COLLECTION/PEOPLE’S COLLECTION MUSEUM

쎲 phm.org.uk 콯 01603 493625 쎲 nms.ac.uk/ripitup

A new 600-square-metre
gallery
g is opening to the 쎲 museums.norfolk.gov.uk/
Marking 100 years Discover the story of Scottish
norwich-castle
since the p
public at the Horniman pop from the 1950s up to the
Representation of the M
Museum, showcasing its Explore the world of the 17th present day. Original stage
People Act, which w
world anthropology century through the Paston outfits and instruments,
gave all men and collection. More than
c Treasure, a fascinating still life many loaned by the artists
some women the vote, 3
3,000 objects will be on depicting dozens of curiosities themselves, will feature in
this exhibition features s
show in the new space, owned by the Norfolk-based the exhibition, together
items from groups in
ncluding a Tuareg camel Paston family at the height of with props, film and music.
such as Manchester s
saddle, a Native their wealth and influence. Lonnie Donegan, Gerry
Women’s March and A
American tomahawk and Five of the surviving objects Rafferty, Lulu, Simple Minds,
the Proud Trust. The a sword
s made of sharks’ featured in the Treasure will and the Sensational Alex
Manchester suffragette e teeth
h from Kiribati. Many be shown alongside the Harvey Band are just some of
banner from 1908 will beb pieces will be on show for painting, including a mother- the artists and bands under
on show for the first tim
me. the first
fi time in a generation. of-pearl perfume flask. the spotlight.

A suffragette hunger
BBC History Magazine strike medal 85
Out & about
MY FAVOURITE PLACE
Bern, Switzerland
bySeán Williams
For the latest in our historical holiday
series, Seán visits the understated Swiss
capital, once home to Einstein and Hegel
B
ern is a capital city
with a small-town
feel. The Bunde-
shaus, or ‘Federal
House’, stands on
a hill looking out across the old
town in stately fashion, onto the
Alps in the distance. Parliament
Square is flanked by national
and regional banks, though
there are rarely financiers or
politicians rushing about. In
summer, the real crowds are
down by the River Aare.
Bern has been Switzerland’s
political centre since the
formation of the Swiss Confed-
eration in 1848. Even back then,
Bern couldn’t match the size,
infrastructure or flair of Zurich,
but Swiss federalist culture was
The Zytglogge, Bern’s famous medieval clock tower, can be found
on Kramgasse in the Old Town, close to where Einstein once lived
86
against having a ‘main’ city.
Bern sits in the middle of the
country, between German- and
French-speaking Switzerland.
The canton of Bern is bilingual,
whereas (Bernese) German is
spoken in the city.
I lived in Bern as a young
lecturer, and I still feel positive
about its effect on my life and
writing. Hegel lived here, too, in
the 1790s, when he worked as
a private tutor. He later became
the most influential modern
German philosopher. Einstein
resided with his first wife and
their son in a second-floor
apartment in Bern’s Kramgasse,
where he wrote the ‘Annus Mira-
bilis’ papers that radically
reformed our understanding
of physics. (You can visit the
Einsteinhaus today, furnished
as it would have looked in the
early 20th century.) And Walter
Benjamin, a significant avant-
garde cultural critic, submitted
his doctoral dissertation to the
university here.
A cynic might point out that
none of these characters stayed
in the city for more than a few
years, but Bern was nevertheless
an early way station for their
thought. When Goethe – Ger-
many’s greatest poet – paid a
fleeting visit in 1779, he declared
it the most beautiful city he’d
seen. He was taken with the
uniformly greyish sandstone
buildings, now enlivened with
window boxes of red geraniums
– matched by the red trams. The
city centre is now a Unesco
World Heritage site.
If the weather’s fine, explore
Bern on foot. Near the Einstein-
haus is the medieval tower called
the Zytglogge, with its astrologi-
cal clock. To the side of it are the
different regional units of
measurement, used at market
into the late 19th century.
Centralisation in Switzerland
has long been contentious, in
both political and everyday life.
Wander over to the fountain
depicting an ogre gobbling a
child. Note the pointed Santa-
like cap, which problematically
The old town of Bern,
encircled by the turquoise
River Aare. The peaceful
river is popular with
locals for swimming
resembles a Jewish hat from the
statue’s early-modern era. Then
stroll down to see the bear pit.
Unlike the one in my current
home city, Sheffield, Bern’s
historic bear pit is still in use –
though it connects to a proper
enclosure on the banks of the
Aare. (I can remember all too
well the stench as the bears
emerged from hibernation one
spring.) From here, head up the
hill to the world’s largest
collection of works by the artist
Paul Klee, who was born locally.
This image of Bern may seem
too bourgeois, too clichéd a
picture of Switzerland as neat,
beautiful and quiet, but it is
actually a city (and country) of
contrasts. You may be struck
ALAMY
by a large 19th-century build-
ing covered in graffiti near the
BBC History Magazine

train station; if you pass it in
the evening, you’ll see and hear
a vibrant party spilling out
on to the car park. This is the
Reitschule, or ‘Riding School’: a
venue for techno nights, a radi-
cal press, an avant-garde cinema
and socialist-oriented action
groups. When a wave of youth
riots spread across Switzerland
in the 1980s, the Reitschule was
the site of unrest in Bern. Over
30 years, the building has turned
MAP: PAUL HEWITT-BATTLEFIELD DESIGN
from a squat into a centre that
brings together diverse artistic,
political, and cultural-critical
organisations under one roof.
Been there…
Have you visited Bern?
Do you have a top tip for
readers? Contact us via
Twitter or Facebook
twitter.com/historyextra
facebook.com/historyextra
paid Bern a fleeting
visit, he declared it
the most beautiful
city he had seen
Despite Bern’s diversity,
there’s an obsession common to
all Bernese, and to which most
conversations with locals will
sooner or later turn: the
temperature of the Aare. You
can check online, but the feel
wields greater authority than
actual fact. The peaceful,
turquoise-blue river is perfect
for wild swimming, and here the
tradition is exceptionally
civilised. Pack a ‘dry bag’ with
your clothes, a towel and
a bottle of Swiss wine. The local
wine is not exported, so is
Switzerland’s best-kept secret.
Jump in below the parliament
building and, using your dry bag
as a float, allow yourself to be
swept around the edge of the old
town before swimming sideways
against the current to get out.
When Goethe
There are steps every few metres,
and showers near the (river-filled)
public lidos. Checkk the condi-
tions before swimming and
follow the safety advice on
bern.com/aare-swimmin
Finish the day drying off on
the bank with a glass of Heida,
your wine bottle having been
suitably chilled by the water of
the river running down from the
mountains. Proscht!
Seán Williams is vice-chancellor’s
fellow in the School of Languages
and Cultures at Sheffield University,
and a broadcaster on German topics.
Read more of Seán’s experiences at
historyextra.com/bern
Next month: Lesley Downer
visits Japan’s capital, Tokyo
ADVICE FOR
TRAVELLERS
BEST TIME TO GO
Bern is best in the late spring
and summer, though it was
allegedly the world’s most
Instagrammed city last winter.
I have swum until early
October, but by then did not
swim very far! Swiss National
Day falls on 1 August; note
that in Switzerland, shops are
closed from early the night
before a public holiday, as well
as on the day itself.
GETTING THERE
Bern airport is small. You can
fly direct from London City
with Skywork. Otherwise, fly
to Zürich or Basel then take
the train (about an hour). In
winter, a Bernese city break
is best combined with Alpine
hiking or skiing.
WHAT TO TAKE
Swimmers should pack a
‘dry bag’ if you have one –
or buy one from the tourist
information office at the
railway station.
WHAT TO BRING BACK
Pick up a couple of
Mandelbärlii – almond sponge
cakes in the shape of the
city’s honourable residents,
the bears.
READERS’ VIEWS
There are 11 Renaissance
fountains hidden through-
out the Old City that are
really fun to find. I recom-
mend getting lost for an
afternoon and discovering
the narrow cobblestone
alleys. @Secoco75
87
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

CATHEDRALS,
CHURCHES & ABBEYS
TO VISIT

ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL THE TEMPLE CHURCH

Less than 40 minutes by This is the church of Inner
train from London and and Middle Temple, two
free to visit. Rochester of England's four ancient
Cathedral is England’s societies of lawyers – the
second oldest cathedral Inns of Court. The Temple
and was founded in AD Church serves both inns'
604. The present building members and staf. Visitors
dates back to 1080. from all over the world
Rochester Cathedral is are also welcomed to this
home to Textus Rofensis, beautiful and historic place
a 12th century manuscript in the centre of London.
which contains the only
existing copy of the first
code of English law.

info@rochestercathedral.org 020 7353 8559

rochestercathedral.org © Chris Christodoulou templechurch.com

COVENTRY CATHEDRAL GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

Coventry Cathedral is Welcome to Gloucester
a place where splendid Cathedral, one of the
medieval history meets finest medieval buildings
modern architecture to in the country. Explore
stunning and poignant 1000 years of history and
efect. Come and explore architecture, including
our Ruined Cathedral, the exquisite fan-vaulted
destroyed in WW2, Cloisters and Great East
standing proudly alongside Window, both of which
our magnificent ‘New’ are national treasures.
Cathedral, featuring works The newly re-opened
by some of the greatest Lady Chapel is simply
artists of the 1950s and unmissable following its
60s. Hear our story of beautiful restoration.
peace and reconciliation in a Entry is free.
truly breath-taking setting.

02476 521234 01452 528095

coventrycathedral.org.uk gloucestercathedral.org.uk

SOUTHWELL MINSTER
Southwell Minster is a
superb cathedral church
with an exquisite Norman
Nave. It is home to the world
renowned stone carvings
‘the Leaves of Southwell’,
among the finest examples
of naturalistic stone
carvings in Europe, and
an array of beautiful
stained glass windows. A
superb cathedral shop,
refectory and tranquil
gardens accompany this
magnificent building with
over 1,000 years of history.
01636 817284
southwellminster.org.uk
WELLS CATHEDRAL
A superb gothic cathedral
with a magnificent 13th
century West Front carrying
290 pieces of medieval
sculpture; beautiful
octagonal Chapter House;
impressive scissor arches;
14th century Vicars' Close.
Situated in the heart of
medieval Wells, entry to the
Cathedral is by donation
and includes a free daily
scheduled tour with one
our highly trained guides.
“You must visit this stunning
building” (TripAdvisor review).
01749 674 483
wellscathedral.org.uk
GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL
Visit the refurbished
People’s Cathedral, explore
this magnificent twentieth
century building through
new Guided Tours, Tower
Tours and specialist trails
for all ages, enjoying the
sense of light and space
envisaged by the original
architect, Sir Edward Maufe.
Guilford Cathedral, Stag Hill,
Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7UP.
01483 547881
guildford-cathedral.org
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
COPTIC ORTHODOX
CATHEDRAL OF SAINT GEORGE
On the grounds of The
Coptic Orthodox Church
Centre, the Cathedral
represents a unique blend of
ancient and contemporary
Coptic culture set within
a British context. The
Cathedral remains true to
ancient Egyptian roots in its
architecture. Its high vaults,
domes and iconostasis
are harmoniously
complemented by a neo-
traditional modern style.
VisitUs@CopticCentre.com
CopticOrthodox.London
ST MARY REDCLIFFE
Once described by
Elizabeth I as “the fairest,
goodliest and most famous
parish church in England”,
Bristol’s St Mary Redclife is
one of our finest churches:
a Grade-I listed building,
a masterpiece of Gothic
architecture and a treasure
of international importance.
Rich in history, it has
associations with,among
others, John Cabot, William
Penn, Thomas Chatterton
and William Hogarth.
0117 231 0060
stmaryredcliffe.co.uk
BRISTOL CATHEDRAL
Standing in the heart of
its vibrant city, Bristol
Cathedral is one of
England’s great medieval
churches. It boasts some
of the UK’s most important
medieval architecture,
including a Norman Chapter
House, brightly coloured
chapels, and lofty arches
and vaults of a unique hall
church design. Enjoy a rich
programme of services and
events, a shop, café and
peaceful garden.
0117 926 4879
bristol-cathedral.co.uk
Advertisement Feature
Summer Heritage Collection
1.
5.
9.
1. BENTLEY PRIORY MUSEUM
Join us for RAF centenary commemorative
events throughout 2018 including a series of
public talks and a special Aternoon Tea on
14th July. Please visit our website to ind
out more.
bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk | 020 8950 5526
5. BAMBURGH CASTLE
A stunning coastal fortress at the heart of an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Explore
fourteen rooms, he Aviation Artefacts
Museum, archaeology, cafeteria, grounds and
battlements. Discover an amazing eclectic
collection of 3500 items.
bamburghcastle.com | 01668 214 515
9. ARBEIA, SOUTH SHIELDS
ROMAN FORT
A World Heritage Site, Arbeia has the inest
Roman full scale reconstructions in the UK
with signiicant artefacts from Roman
Britain including the Regina Tombstone.
arbeiaromanfort.org.uk | 01912 771 410
2. Illustration by Colin Palmer
6.
10.
2. THE MERCHANTS HOUSE
Rare example of a seventeenth century
merchant’s house on Marlborough High
Street. Open for guided tours from April to
October.
themerchantshouse.co.uk | 01672 511 491
6. WATTS GALLERY
James Henry Pullen: Inmate - Inventor –
Genius. 19 June 2018 - 28 October 2018.
his exhibition, the irst ever gallery show
devoted to Pullen’s work, highlights a
frequently unseen part of the nineteenth
and early twentieth-century art world.
wattsgallery.org.uk | 01483 810 235
10. BUTSER ANCIENT FARM
A unique experimental archaeological site in
the beautiful South Downs. Step inside ancient
buildings from the Stone Age, Iron Age,
Romans and Saxons, learn traditional skills
with year round workshops and events.
butserancientfarm.co.uk | 02392 598 838
3.
7.
11.
3. DE HAVILLAND MUSEUM
he UK’s oldest aviation museum,
dedicated to the preservation and
restoration of the de Havilland Heritage.
We are a working museum where you can
get close up and into many of our exhibits.
dehavillandmuseum.co.uk | 01727 826 400
7. ANAESTHESIA
HERITAGE CENTRE
A unique medical science museum devoted to
the history of anaesthesia, resuscitation and pain
relief. he current exhibition ‘Brave Faces’ shows
how the innovations of Ivan Magill and Stanley
Rowbotham revolutionised facial surgery.
heritage@aagbi.org | 02076 311 650
11. HEAD OF STEAM MUSEUM
Venture into our original 1840’s railway
station. Journey through time, follow the
history of the growth of the railways and
admire our four historic locomotives
including Stephenson’s Locomotion No 1.
head-of-steam.co.uk | 01325 405 060
4.
8.
12.
4. READING ABBEY QUARTER
Visit Reading Museum to discover the
story of Reading Abbey and then explore
the Abbey Ruins to uncover its 900 year
history. Visit our website to see our
exciting events programme.
readingabbeyquarter.org.uk | 0118 937 3400
8. FROGMORE MILL,
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
Learn about the history of paper, make
your own sheet, see a working 1902 paper
machine and much more at the world’s
oldest mechanised paper mill.
thepapertrail.org.uk | 01442 234 600
12. WEDGWOOD MUSEUM
Visit the UNESCO recognised V&A
collection this summer and discover over
250 years of history at this award-winning
museum. With special children’s events
and exhibitions throughout the year.
worldofwedgwood.com
THE DIRECTORY To advertise telephone Baylee on: 0117 300 8549
P RO D U C T S EXHIBITIONS
Discovered 1960
Britain’s first
Roman Palace
& Garden
Discovered in 1960, this
remarkable site was
uncovered over 8 years
Opened 1968 of excavations. Why not
come along in our
50th year to unravel the
mysteries of those who
lived in this magnificent
Roman home
G E N E A L O GY nearly 2,000 years ago?
Still discovering 2018
Look out for our series
ANCESTORS of short talks,
‘Fishbourne in 50 objects’ TO ADVERTISE
Discover Your Ancestors
and many other HERE CONTACT
Let our professional TO ADVERTISE
genealogists trace your anniversary events BAYLEE ON
family history nationally HERE CONTACT
and internationally throughout the year. 0117 300 8549
BAYLEE ON
Money back guarantee
0117 300 8549 OR
For the best, most
economical services
OR BAYLEE.SOWTER@
write to:
Ancestorsgenealogy.co.uk
BAYLEE.SOWTER@ IMMEDIATE.CO.UK
11 Crosbie Road,
Harborne, Birmingham
IMMEDIATE.CO.UK PO19 3QR 01243 785859
B17 9BG
(BHM) www.sussexpast.co.uk
0121 2464260

PUBLISHING





 Your Course Includes:
 Specialist course on proofreading and copy
editing.
 Caring constructive help from expert tutors.

   Four tutor-marked assignments.

 Help and advice from our experienced
Student Advisory Team.
 Flexible study programme.
All written work should be You can use your new skills to Hazel Stainer
“The course helped me to  Specialist advice on how to find work.
proofread to give it that final polish proofread your own work, in your
discover something I  Enrol when it suits you.
and professional edge. Businesses, current job, or add them to your CV to
publishers, writers and students are help you find a new position or gain enjoyed and has given me a  Instant access to course material when you
greater understanding about enrol online.
just a few of the people who could be promotion. But that’s not all. You also
the way the English language  15 days trial.
your customers if you learn to learn how to set up as a freelancer and works. I am more confident  Advice on how to set yourself up in business.
proofread to a high standard. how to find clients so you can work at in my writing and feel able  Continuing Professional Development
home for an extra or full-time income. to give advice or make Certificate.
In just a few short months our home- Once you have the skills the choice is corrections in other
All this for only £374
study CPD Certificate course – with yours. people’s work.” (instalment terms available)
expert personal tuition – teaches you www.facebook.com/thewritersbureau
how to proofread and copy edit to a The course is ideal for beginners or
Writers
Bureau 29 Years of
Success
www.twitter.com/writersbureau Members of ITOL
professional level. You’ll brush up on to use as a refresher. 15-day trial. -"*%! +%&-+)$+-*$/#," !-*)- %(#!$'- ,$+ (*"-  *''+-)) and NAWE

your punctuation, spelling and Request your free prospectus, with no

 !-*)- )-(' "- 



  ,)& ,( , &, -#,"- * )$##-))$!.+,,+-*'-+.*('.#, .-'%&,+/.
, )&*" +-$%+-'/ - ', (,& )*+- ,$+ '-&*%!) %& *( ,&-+ -+),( ,+ ,+ *(%)*&%,(/
grammar, learn what to look out for obligation to enrol. Call or click now!
and how to mark up on paper and 1B718P
 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
screen.
  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

FREE CALL Quote Ref:

0800 856 2008
24 HRS 1B718P
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////   ////////////////////////////////////////////

  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Freepost THE WRITERS BUREAU
 SUBSCRIBE NOW

To celebrate 25 years of
Homes & Antiques we are ofering

13 issues for
only £25.
Call 0333 016 2117
and quote HTP2518 or visit
buysubscriptions.com/HTP2518

Hurry!
OFFER ENDS
31 S T J U L Y

UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call
packages, call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 8am-6pm and Sat 9am-1pm. 60% saving offer is available for UK subscribers paying by Direct
Debit only. After your first 13 issues your subscription will continue at £35.68 every 13 issues saving 45% on the shop price. Your subscription will start with the next available issue. Offer ends 31st July 2018.
 MISCELLANY Q&A

QUIZ
BY JULIAN HUMPHRYS
Try your hand at this
month’s history quiz ONLINE
QUIZZES
historyextra.com
1. What did Christian I, /quiz
king of Denmark and
Norway, cede to Scotland
after failing to pay his
daughter’s marriage dowry?

2. Who was forced to take a ‘walk of

shame’ through
shame th the streets
of Lonndon in 1483?

3. What is the name

o
of this form of tin-
gglazed ceramic
((left), and after
wwhich island is it
4 tthought to be
n amed?

4. “B
Be jabers, boys,
I have the
t cuckoo!” What
had Sergeant Patrick Masterson of
the 87th Regiment of Foot just done?

5. What was Scotland’s ‘Cleanse the ILLUSTRATION BY GLEN MCBETH

Causeway’ of 1520?

6. What links the Bell Rock light-

house (below) with Treasure Island? Q Why do so many Anglo-Saxon royal
6 names began with A, E or Æ? Was this
a tradition of only the ruling classes,
and when did it end?
Alan Padwick, Kingston upon Hull

QUIZ ANSWERS
1. Orkney and the Shetlands.
2. Jane Shore, the former mistress of, among
others, Edward IV and William Hastings.
3. Majolica, Majorca.
4. He had captured a French eagle standard
at the Battle of Barrosa, 1811.
5. A violent skirmish in Edinburgh High Street,
fought between the Hamiltons and the
Douglases.
ALAMY/GETTY IMAGES
The answer lies in the way Anglo-
A Saxon names were formed. Many
of them were made up of two elements,
both of which had a particular meaning.
For example, the name Æthelstan is
formed from Æthel, meaning ‘noble’,
and Stan, meaning ‘stone’. Within
families the same first element could
be repeated many times, varied by a
different second element, to show that
people were related to each other. This
was especially common in aristocratic
families, but seems to have been a
later Anglo-Saxon period. This family
frequently used the elements Æthel, Ead
(‘blessed’), and Ælf (‘elf’ – ie a special
or supernatural being). Other royal
Anglo-Saxon dynasties used different
name-elements; for instance, several
kings of Mercia had names that began
with Wig, meaning ‘war’.
This changed in the 11th century,
when England was conquered by the
Danes and the Normans, both of whom
had different naming practices. The
Normans, for example, named sons

6. The Bell Rock lighthouse was built by Robert
Stevenson; Treasure Islandd was written by his
grandson, Robert Louis Stevenson.
GOT A QUESTION?
Write to BBC History Magazine,
Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN.
Email: historymagazine@historyextra.com
or submit via our website: historyextra.com
widespread practice.
Names beginning with A, E and Æ
appear to predominate among Anglo-
Saxon royalty because these were used
in the dynasty of the kings of Wessex,
who became rulers of England in the
after their fathers and grandfathers, so
after 1066 we see a succession of kings
named William and Henry.
Eleanor Parkerr is lecturer in medieval
literature at Brasenose College, Oxford

BBC History Magazine 93

Miscellany
SAMANTHA’S
RECIPE CORNER
Every issue, picture editor
Samantha Nott brings you a
recipe from the past. This month
it’s a potent summer punch
invented by 18th-century anglers
Fish house punch
This refreshing punch was
first concocted at a
gentlemen’s fishing club on
Philadelphia’s Schuylkill
river. Some say it was
enjoyed by the anglers as
early as 1732, but others
claim it was first brewed up
in 1848 for a party to mark
the moment that women
were first allowed to set
foot on club premises.
A note from 1744 records
a group of gentlemen
tucking into “a bowl of fine
lemon punch big enough
to have swimmed half a
dozen of young geese”.
But if you don’t own a
punch bowl large enough
to hold six birds and a very
large block of ice, a pitcher
filled with ice cubes would
also work nicely.
According to legend,
the punch was once
sampled by George
Washington, perhaps too
eagerly – for the following
three days, he couldn’t
even summon up the
energy to write his diary.
Those who prefer their
punch somewhat less
potent should make sure
to dilute it with cold black
tea or fizzy water.
94
INGREDIENTS
240ml sugar syrup
830ml water
350ml fresh lemon juice
750ml Jamaican
amber rum
350ml cognac
60ml peach brandy
lemon slices and thyme,
to garnish
black tea, to dilute
METHOD
Stir together the sugar
and water in a large punch
bowl or pot until sugar
is dissolved.
Add the lemon juice,
rum, cognac and brandy.
Cover with clingfilm,
and chill in the fridge for
at least 3 hours.
Put a large block of ice
in a bowl and pour the
punch over it.
VERDICT
“Makes a lovely centrepiece
at a summer party, but
is best diluted with tea –
it certainly does pack
a punch!”
Difficulty: 1/10
Time: 10 mins’
preparation time,
chill for 3 hours
goose-step during a drill in 1936.
The parade step is thought to have
originated in the Prussian army
Q Where and when did the
‘goose-step’ originate? And
how did it get its name?
Paul Bloomfield, Bath
The ‘goose-step’ goes
A back to a time when
infantry soldiers had to move
around the battlefield in close
formation. It is generally
believed to have originated
with Prussian general Prince
Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau
(1676–1747) as part of Prussia’s
notoriously harsh regime of
military discipline. It then
spread to Russia via German
mercenary officers. In the 19th
century, it was adopted in
countries that admired the
Prussian military machine. In
the 20th century meanwhile,
many more countries adopted
it as a result of Soviet
influence.
There are variants of the
march, but in all of them
soldiers keep their legs
straight. They range from the
strutting of Hitler’s armies in
the 1930s to a slow Russian
German troops practise their
variant in which the legs are
raised to over 90 degrees from
the body. The North Koreans
developed a variation with a
little bounce in each step.
Ultimately, the goose-step has
no tactical use and is difficult
to sustain, often resulting in
injuries. It’s purely for show, to
emphasise discipline and the
transformation of individuals
into a single military machine.
‘Goose-step’ is an English
term (to Germans, it was the
Stechschrittt or ‘stabbing
march’, because feet stabbed
the air), which was originally
used to denote a training drill
in which recruits kept
alternate feet just above the
ground. To Britons, this
BRIDGEMAN/JENI NOTT
became a synonym for petty
military discipline.
Eugene Byrne is an author and
journalist, specialising in history
BBC History Magazine

PRIZE CROSSWORD
Across
4 Walter __, German-American
architect and director of the
Bauhaus, 1919–28 (7)
6 Location of Harland and Wolff,
builders of the RMS Titanicc (7)
9 Richard __, the London
impresario who founded the
Savoy Theatre as a showcase
for the extremely popular Gilbert
and Sullivan operettas (5,5)
11 Republican paramilitary
group responsible for the car
bomb that killed the shadow
Northern Ireland Secretary,
Airey Neave, in 1979 (4)
12 Islamic sultanate that,
at its peak in the 16th century,
is thought to have had control
over most regions of Borneo (6)
13 The c720 battle of
Covadonga is taken to be the
start of the Christian ‘recon-
quest’ of this large peninsula
from Muslims (6)
15 Common name for the
1948–51 US aid to Europe
initiative (3,8,4)
18 A central Mexican civilisation
that existed from around the 10th
to 12th centuries AD (6)
20 Sixteenth-century artist
regarded as the greatest painter
of the Venetian School (6)
23/3 Major governmental
department of the UK, brought into
being in 1782 (4,6)
24 The ‘Articles of the Barons’
of June 1215 formed the basis of
this famous English document (5,5)
25 The art of jousting, riding and
thrusting with a lance (7)
26 See 5 down
Down
1 Ancient city state, dominant in
the Peloponnese until the rise of
Spartan power (5)
2 Isadora __, an early 20th-
century American dancer who
helped to free ballet from its rigid
conventions (6)
3 See 23 across
5/26 Founders of the first
permanent colony in New England
in 1620 (7,7)
BRIDGEMAN/ALAMY
Who is this American dancer,
who cast off the rigid
conventions of ballet?
(see 2 down)
BBC History Magazine
7 Hebrew prophet, subject of a book
of the Bible, one of the Israelites
exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon (7)
8 __ the Magnificent, also known
as ‘the lawgiver’, 16th-century
sultan of the Ottoman empire (8)
10 Scene of a fire in 1933. If not
started by Nazi agents, it was seized
upon by them to discredit opponents
and cement the party’s power (9)
14 __ the Great (c454–526), who
founded the Ostrogoth kingdom
in Italy (9)
16 City that became the capital of
the Confederate States of America
during the American Civil War (8)
17 The first true one is thought to
have been Menes (or Narmer) who
ruled around the third or fourth
Who was the founder
W CROSSWORD
WORD
o Italy’s Ostrogoth
of
E
RIZE
PRIZE
kiingdom, depicted on
k
thiis
s coin? (see 14 down)
Book
worth
£25
for 5 winners
Tutank un:
khamun:
Egyptology’s
olo
Greatest Discovery
by Jaromir Malek
This lavishly illustrated new book
delves into the history behind one
of archaeology’s most fascinating
finds: the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Egyptologist Jaromir Malek vividly
details the life of the boy king and
the ancient Egyptian civilisation
that he ruled 3,000 years ago.
Malek also recounts the story of
Howard Carter’s 1922 expedition
to the Valley of the Kings,
exploring how the dig and its
discoveries captured imagina-
tions across the world.
HOW TO ENTER Open to residents of the UK
(inc Channel Islands). Post entries to BBC History
Magazine, July 2018 Crossword, PO Box 501,
Leicester LE94 0AA A or email them to
july2018@historycomps.co.uk by 5pm
on 11 July 2018. Entrants must supply full name,
address and phone number. The winners will be the
first correct entries drawn at random after the
closing time. Winners’ names will appear in the
September 2018 issue. By entering, participants
agree to be bound by the terms and conditions
millennium BC (7) shown in full in the box below. Immediate Media
19 That of Trianon in 1920, between Company (publishers of BBC History Magazine)) will
use personal details in accordance with the
Hungary and the Allies, helped conclude
Immediate Privacy Policy at immediatemedia.co.uk/
the First World War (6) privacy-policy/privacy/
Immediate Media Company Limited (publishers of
21 Roman emperor, conqueror of Dacia
BBC History Magazinee) would love to send you
and Mesopotamia (6) newsletters, together with special offers and other
promotions. If you would not like to receive these,
22 Last name of the 20th-century
please write ‘NO INFO’ on your entry. Branded
British author of classic books about BBC titles are licensed from or published jointly with
her travels in the Middle East and BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC).
Please tick here … if you’d like to receive regular
Afghanistan (5)
newsletters, special offers and promotions from
BBC Worldwide by email. Your information will be
Compiled by Eddie James handled in accordance with the BBC Worldwide
privacy policy: bbcworldwide.com/privacy
SOLUTION TO OUR MAY 2018 CROSSWORD
Across: 1 Denmark 5 Aberfan 10 Madrid 11 Folk song 12/13 Pembroke Castle
14 Howard 16 Trajan 19 Addled 21 Angles 23 Pelham 25 Makarios 27 Brighton
28 Bright 29 Walesa 30 Messina. Down: 2 Eva Peron 3 Mary Beard 4 Radio 6 Balaclava
7 Roses 8 Arnold 15 Dolomites 17 Alger Hiss 18 Xenophon 20/9 Domino Effect
22 Hebrew 24 Hegel 26 Keble.
FIVE WINNERS OF MAPPING SHAKESPEARE
A Anderson, County Down; I Chatten, Suffolk; D Lightbody, Edinburgh; M Fortune,
Renfrewshire; H Harrison, Bristol
CROSSWORD COMPETITION TERMS & CONDITIONS
쎲 The crossword competition is open to all residents of the UK (inc Channel Islands), aged 18 or over, except Immediate
Media Company Bristol Limited employees or contractors, and anyone connected with the competition or their direct
family members. By entering, participants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and that their name and
county may be released if they win. Only one entry permitted per person.
쎲 The closing date and time is as shown under How to Enter, above. Entries received after that will not be considered.
Entries cannot be returned. Entrants must supply full name, address and daytime phone number. Immediate Media
Company (publishers of BBC History Magazine) e will not publish your personal details or provide them to anyone without
permission. Read more about the Immediate Privacy Policy at immediatemedia.co.uk/privacy-policy/
쎲 The winning entrants will be the first correct entries drawn at random after the closing time. The prize and number of
winners will be as shown on the Crossword page. There is no cash alternative and the prize will not be transferable.
Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited’s decision is final and no correspondence relating to the competition will be
entered into. The winners will be notified by post within 20 days of the close of the competition. The name and county of
residence of the winners will be published in the magazine within two months of the closing date. If the winner is unable
to be contacted within one month of the closing date, Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited reserves the right to
offer the prize to a runner-up.
쎲 Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions, or to cancel, alter
or amend the promotion at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.
The promotion is subject to the laws of England.
95
 EDITORIAL
NEXT MONTH
Editorr Rob Attar robertattar@historyextra.com AUGUST ISSUE ON SALE 12 JULY 2018
Deputy editor Charlotte Hodgman
World history editor Matt Elton mattelton@historyextra.com
Production editor Spencer Mizen
Staff writer Ellie Cawthorne
Picture editor Samantha Nott samnott@historyextra.com
Deputy picture editor Katherine Hallett
Acting art editor Rachel Dickens
Deputy art editors Rosemary Smith, Sarah Lambert
Designer Paul Jarrold
Digital editor Emma Mason emmamason@historyextra.com
Deputy digital editor Elinor Evans
Website assistantt Rachel Dinning

Vol 19 No 7 – July 2018
BBC History Magazinee is published by
Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited
under licence from BBC Studios who help
fund new BBC programmes.
BBC History Magazine was established to
publish authoritative history, written by
leading experts, in an accessible and
attractive format. We seek to maintain the
high journalistic standards traditionally
associated with the BBC.
ADVERTISING & MARKETING
Advertising manager
Sam Jones 0117 300 8145
Sam.Jones@immediate.co.uk
Senior brand sales executive
Kate Chetwynd 0117 300 8532
Brand sales executives
Max Spalton 0117 300 8530
George Bent 0117 300 8281
Classified sales manager
Rebecca Janyshiwskyj
Classified sales executive
Baylee Sowter-Halling 0117 300 8549
Baylee.Sowter-halling@immediate.co.uk
Group direct marketing manager
Laurence Robertson 00353 5787 57444
Subscriptions director Jacky Perales-Morris
Subscriptions marketing manager
Natalie Lawrence US representative
Kate Buckley: buckley@buckleypell.com
PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
PR managerr Emma Cooney 0117 300 8507
Emma.Cooney@immediate.co.uk
SYNDICATION
Director of licensing & syndication
Tim Hudson
International partners’ manager
Anna Brown
PRODUCTION
Production director Sarah Powell
Acting production co-ordinator
Lily Owens-Crossman
Ad co-ordinatorr Jade O’Halloran
Ad designerr Julia Young
IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY
Content director David Musgrove
Commercial director Jemima Dixon
Publishing director Andy Healy
Managing directorr Andy Marshall
CEO Tom Bureau
BBC STUDIOS
President of UK and ANZ Marcus Arthur
Director for Consumer Products and
Publishing Andrew Moultrie
Director of Editorial Governance
Nicholas Brett
Publishing Director Chris Kerwin
Publisher Magazines and NPD
BRIDGEMAN/GETTY IMAGES
ADVISORY PANEL
Dr Padma Anagol Cardiff University –
Prof Joanna Bourke Birkbeck College,
London – Prof Richard Carwardine
Oxford University – Prof Clive Emsley
Open University – Prof Richard Evans
Cambridge University – Prof Sarah Foot
Oxford University – Loyd Grossman
Chairman of the Heritage Alliance* –
Prof Rab Houston St Andrews University –
Prof John Hudson St Andrews University –
Dr Peter Jones formerly Newcastle
University – Prof Denis Judd London
Metropolitan University – Prof Sir Ian
Kershaw formerly Sheffield University –
Robert Ketteridge Head of Documentaries,
Factual, BBC* – Christopher Lee formerly
Cambridge University – Prof John Morrill
Cambridge University – Greg Neale Founding
editor, BBC History Magazinee – Prof Kenneth
O Morgan Oxford University – Prof Cormac
ó Gráda University College, Dublin –
Prof Martin Pugh formerly Newcastle
University – Julian Richards archaeologist
and broadcaster – Prof Simon Schama
Columbia University – Prof Mark Stoyle
University of Southampton – Dr Amanda
Goodrich The Open University* – Dr Simon
The Civil War
Thurley formerly chief executive, English Jonathan Healey reveals the true reasons for
Heritage – Michael Wood historian and
broadcaster the outbreak of hostilities in the 17th century
*member of BBC Editorial Advisory Board
© Immediate Media Company Bristol
Limited, 2018 – ISSN: 1469 8552
Not for resale. All rights reserved. Unauthorised
reproduction in whole or part is prohibited On the beach
without written permission. Every effort has
been made to secure permission for copyright
Kathryn Ferry
material. In the event of any material being used explores the
inadvertently, or where it proved impossible to
trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement boom in British
will be made in a future issue. MSS,
photographs and artwork are accepted on holidaymaking
the basis that BBC History Magazinee and its
agents do not accept liability for loss or
during the
damage to same. Views expressed are not interwar years
necessarily those of the publisher.
We abide by IPSO’s rules and regulations.
To give feedback about our magazines,
please visit immediate.co.uk,
k email
editorialcomplaints@immediate.co.uk
or write to Katherine Conlon,
Immediate Media Co., Vineyard House,
44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT.
Immediate Media Company is working to Winning WWI
ensure that all of its paper is sourced from
well-managed forests. This magazine can be Nick Lloyd revisits the
recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging.
Please remove any gifts, samples or wrapping
1918 battle of Amiens
and dispose of it at your local collection point. a key Allied victory on
the western front

Mandy Thwaites
Publishing Co-ordinator Eva Abramik
(uk.publishing@bbc.com) Clergy behaving badly
Jan–Dec July 2015– Emma J Wells separates fact
2017 June 2016
94,583 333,000
from fiction in the legends
surrounding medieval clerics

BBC History Magazine 97

My history hero
“Unlike many rich people
who spend their life protecting
their wealth, she did the
opposite. It’s estimated she
gave away around £350m
in today’s money”
TV presenter and campaigner
Esther Rantzen chooses
Angela
Burdett-Coutts
1814–1906
B
aroness Angela Burdett-Coutts was a philanthropist.
The granddaughter of Thomas Coutts, who founded the
banking house Coutts & Co, on inheriting his fortune she
became one of the wealthiest women in the country.
Among her charitable acts was co-founding a home for women who
had turned to “a life of immorality”. She was also co-founder of the
London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. In 1871
she was the first woman to be created a baroness in her own right.
When did you first hear about Angela Burdett-Coutts?
A while ago I went to a charity event at Coutts Bank in London,
where I saw a picture of her and was told she had been a friend of
Charles Dickens and had funded some of his charitable projects.
What kind of person was she?
She had a strong feeling that her wealth could make a difference.
She liked clever men: she was a friend of Disraeli and Gladstone,
as well as Dickens. Dickens dedicated one of his books to her, and
drew her attention to a very unpopular cause at the time – helping
‘fallen’ women. Burdett-Coutts also supported other vulnerable
women and was known as the ‘Queen of the Poor’.
She doesn’t seem to have minded going against Victorian
conventions: having rejected a number of proposals, at the age of
66 she married her 29-year-old American secretary.
What made her a hero?
Her philanthropy and her wide-ranging vision. She seems to have
filled every waking hour with supporting good causes – from
helping to train destitute boys for naval service to scientific
research. Unlike many rich people who spend their life protecting
their wealth, she did the opposite. It’s estimated she gave away
around £350m in today’s money. I also love the fact that her
husband was less than half her age, and that she married him even
though, because he was American, she forfeited most of her
income under the terms of her stepgrandmother’s will.
What was her finest hour?
Helping to found the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
98
Angela Burdett-
Coutts was a
passionate
philanthropist
who defied
conventions
to Children, which became the NSPCC. So many children were
treated terribly in Victorian Britain and were put to work in mills
and factories, sent up chimneys or made to commit crimes like
Dickens’ Oliver Twist.
Is there anything you don’t particularly admire about her?
She became president of the British Goat Society – and I cannot
bear the creatures. They are so destructive: they eat everything.
The Sahara has been blamed on goats – it’s said that they ate all the
vegetation, in effect turning great swathes of Africa into a desert.
Can you see any parallels between her life and your own?
No. She achieved infinitely more than I ever have. But, like her,
I have tried to make a difference by setting up Childline [a free
24-hour counselling service for children] and The Silver Line
[a free 24-hour counselling service for older people].
Does she deserve to be better remembered?
Yes. Terry Pratchett put her in one of his novels [Dodger], because
he wanted his readers to know about her, but even though her
grave is in Westminster Abbey I had never heard of her until
I made that visit to her family bank.
If you could meet her, what would you ask her?
I’d ask her which of the charitable causes she supported had
touched her heart the most, and how she felt about the shock
and scandal that her marriage to a much younger man sparked
in Victorian England. I imagine it might have amused her.
Esther Rantzen was talking to York Membery
Esther Rantzen presented the long-running TV show That’s Life! from
1973 to 1994. She also founded Childline and The Silver Line. For details of
the Esther Rantzen: That’s Life UK Tour visit dameestherrantzen.com
GETTY IMAGES
DISCOVER MORE
LISTEN AGAIN
왘 Hear Esther Rantzen discuss Elizabeth I on Radio 4’s
Great Lives: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0076fdw
BBC History Magazine
 ad or

+ ex t 6
de t h
w

d £2
Save 93% when you

ra
buy 3 issues for £1
Start a 3-issue digital subscription to BBC History Magazine fo
or just £1 and
get instant access to each new issue on your mobile or tab blet device.

Visit buysubscriptions.com/history3for1 to find out more info

OFFER ENDS 31 AUGUST 2018
 NORWELL LAPLEY PRODUCTIONS LTD PRESENT

U K P R E MIE R E

NEIL OLIVER
THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES IN 100 PLACES
Neil was born to love Great Britain. During his 20 years travelling to every
corner, and whilst filming BBC TWO’s ‘Coast’, he’s fallen in love all over again.
Hear in his amusing and entertaining way what it all means to him, and why we
need to cherish and celebrate our wonderful countries.

TOUR DATES
Mon 01 Oct HARROGATE - Harrogate Theatre 01423 502 116 Sun 28Oct BRIGHTON - Theatre Royal 0844 871 7650*
Tue 02Oct SALE - Waterside 0161 912 5616 Mon 29 Oct BIRMINGHAM - Town Hall 0121 780 3333
Wed 03Oct HULL - Hull New Theatre 01482 300306 Tues 30Oct COLCHESTER - Mercury Theatre 01206 573948
Thu 04Oct STAFFORD - Gatehouse Theatre 01785 619080 Wed 31 Oct BRECON - Theatr Brycheiniog 01874 611622
Fri 05Oct LICHFIELD - Garrick Theatre 01543 412121 Thurs 1 Nov DUNSTABLE - Grove Theatre 01582 60 20 80
Sat 06 Oct STEVENAGE - Gordon Craig Theatre 01438 363200 Fri 2 Nov DERBY - Derby Theatre 01332 593939
Sun 07 Oct WORTHING - Pavilion Theatre 01903 206 206 Sat 3 Nov CHESTERFIELD - Winding Wheel 01246 345222
Mon 08Oct GUILDFORD - G Live 01483 369350 Sun 4 Nov LIVERPOOL - Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 0151 709 3789
Thurs 11 Oct TUNBRIDGE WELLS - Assembly Hall Theatre 01892 530613 Tues 6 Nov LINCOLN - New Theatre Royal Lincoln 01522 519999
Fri 12 Oct KETTERING - Lighthouse 01536 414141 Wed 7 Nov SHREWSBURY - Theatre Severn 01743 281281
Tues 16 Oct HORSHAM - The Capitol 01403 750220 Fri 9 Nov MALVERN - Forum Theatre 01684 892277
Wed 17 Oct SWANSEA - Grand Theatre 01792 475715 Sat 10 Nov POOLE - Lighthouse 01202 28 00 00
Thurs 18 Oct CARDIFF - St David’s Hall 029 2087 8444 Sun 11 Nov EXETER - Northcott Theatre 01392 726363
Fri 19 Oct CHELTENHAM - Town Hall 0844 576 2210* Mon 12 Nov DARTFORD - The Orchard Theatre 01322 220000
Sun 21 Oct SOUTHEND-ON-SEA - Palace Theatre 01702 351135 Wed 14 Nov NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE - Newcastle City Hall 0844 811 2121*
Mon 22Oct ST ALBANS - Alban Arena 01727 844 488 Fri 16 Nov EDINBURGH - Assembly Rooms 0131 228 1155
Tues 23Oct BURY ST EDMUNDS - The Apex 01284 758000 Sat 17 Nov STIRLING - The Albert Halls 01786 473 544
Wed 24 Oct BASINGSTOKE - The Haymarket 01256 844244 Sun 18 Nov INVERNESS - Eden Court 01463 234 234
Thurs 25 Oct NEWBURY - Corn Exchange 0845 5218 218 Tues 20Nov GLASGOW - Theatre Royal 0844 871 7647*
Fri 26Oct BRISTOL - Redgrave Theatre 0117 3157 800

Tickets are available at www.ticketline.co.uk or on 0844 888 9991

NB. SOME VENUES MAY INCLUDE BOOKING AND/OR TRANSACTION FEES * FEES APPLY. CALLS COST UP TO 7P PER MINUTE PLUS YOUR PHONE COMPANY'S ACCESS CHARGE